The Washington Nationals are off to a hot start and will want to keep momentum going when they take on the visiting Miami Marlins Thursday afternoon.
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Via ESPN:
Gio Gonzalez hit his second career homer -- grinning his way around the bases -- and pitched six scoreless innings, helping reigning NL East champion Washington beat the Miami Marlins 3-0.
Add that to a 2-0 victory for Washington in Monday's opener behind Stephen Strasburg, and the club's public relations staff said it's only the 13th time a major league team started a season with consecutive shutouts.
"It's not really hard to fathom. I look at this staff and that's what I expect," said Ryan Mattheus, one of three relievers who followed Gonzalez. "I see (starting pitchers) 1 through 5. And then the bullpen down there, the seven guys we've got. I think there's going to be a lot of shutouts."
Gonzalez (1-0), a 21-game winner in 2012 who finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting, allowed only two hits, along with five strikeouts and two walks.
"We've got a couple of guys that may be pressing a little bit," said Marlins rookie manager Mike Redmond, whose team has a total of seven hits so far. "But, you know, we'll be fine. We've just got to continue to go out there and keep grinding it out and get that first run across and take a little pressure off the guys."
What really impressed the gregarious Gonzalez's teammates was his solo shot to left field off Kevin Slowey (0-1), which came with one out in the fifth.
"Everybody's already talking about having to hear about it the next two weeks," first baseman Adam LaRoche said.
