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Roark leads Nats closer to NL East crown
- Updated: September 15, 2016
WASHINGTON — One of the reasons the Nationals might be able to withstand the loss of Stephen Strasburg if he can not pitch again this season is the emergence of right-hander Tanner Roark as a frontline starter. Roark turned in another stellar outing Wednesday afternoon by tossing seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, as he continues to establish himself as one of the premier starters in the National League.
Roark’s performance, alongside a solo home run by Wilson Ramos in the seventh, helped the Nationals move a step closer to securing their third NL East title in five seasons with a 1-0 victory over the Mets at Nationals Park. Washington reduced its magic number to seven.
“This is what [Roark’s] done all year,” bench coach Chris Speier said. “He shut down a really good baseball team offensively.”
Speier was acting as the Nationals’ manager for the day while Dusty Baker was away from the team due to a death in his family.
“As we got into that ninth inning with a one-run lead, yeah, I got emotional,” said Speier, who said Baker was like his brother. “I was saying some powerful prayers. This one’s for Dusty.”
The Cardinals and Giants also both lost Wednesday, so the Mets did not lose any ground in the National League Wild Card race, remaining a half-game ahead of St. Louis for the second spot and a half-game behind San Francisco for the top spot. New York received a strong outing from right-hander Robert Gsellman, who tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings as he continues to be a solid option for the rotation.
“You can’t get too [upset] because you didn’t lose any ground,” Collins said of the Mets’ series loss. “We didn’t drop out. We’re still right where we are. And we’re going home in the Wild Card hunt. Our fans should be excited. It’s the last homestand. Our fans should come out and see what happens.”
MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDRoark does it again: Roark was the odd-man out of the rotation last season …
