The Washington Nationals went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring positon. They stranded 12 baserunners in what ended up a one-run game. They almost wasted what was Gio Gonzalez's best start in over a month. [ed.note - "Gio was pretty good in shutting the Chicago Cubs out back on July 5th at the tail-end of his 22-inning scoreless inning streak."]
Gonzalez didn't get the win to snap his five-game losing streak, but he did throw seven scoreless on just 97 pitches.
The Nats grounded into three double plays to let Wade Miley off the hook in the first, third and sixth innings.
They failed to take advantage of the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks' left-handed starter walked six batters in his 6 ⅔ IP.
And yet somehow, they managed to win their tenth straight game.
Denard Span singled with one down in the bottom of the ninth, stole his 27th base of the season when everyone in the park knew he was going to try to, setting a new personal career-high in stolen bases in the process, then scored on an error on an Anthony Rendon grounder to third for the Nationals' 5th walk-off win in the last six games.
1-0 final.
Via @EliasSports, #Nats are first team since 1986 Houston Astros to #Walkoff 5 times in a 6-game span. #WalkOffCity http://t.co/3QddMwKVmS
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 22, 2014
By winning their tenth straight, the Nationals also guaranteed that their first-year manager would, at some point in the future, have to stuff a pillow under his jersey and reenact Babe Ruth's famous home run trot.
What? You've never seen Matt Williams' Babe Ruth act?
Williams promised MASN's FP Santagelo earlier this season that if the Nationals ever won ten in a row he would reenact the reenactment.
After the Nationals did it, he was asked if he thought at the time he made the promise that he would ever have to make good on the deal?
"Anything is possible," Williams said. "in this game especially."
He said on Thursday evening that he would make good on his promise, but not in the immediate future.
"As in any situation with games or any of that," he said, "timing is important... timing is ultimately important, so I wouldn't imagine that right now is a proper time. It's probably not appropriate, but in some form or fashion at some point, probably in the privacy of some stadium somewhere, we'll bring it out again. I don't know when that will be."
Williams joked earlier this week that he hadn't looked back at the video, or practiced the trot. He said the same today.
"I haven't done it since last time I did it," he joked, "but a promise is a promise, so at some point somewhere, can't tell you when that will be, but at some point."
Why not right away?
"It's not appropriate," he reiterated. "You talk to folks and you say, 'Boy, sure, we'd love to win 10 in-a-row,' but at some point it will be fun and appropriate, but not right now."