The Nationals still own the worst record in the majors and the Orioles are in the AL East cellar, but Saturday's matchup drew the second-largest crowd of the season (31,833) for the Nationals. And they lost. Again.
Aubrey Huff drove in the tiebreaking run with a pinch-hit triple in the seventh inning, and the Baltimore Orioles made the most of three hits in a 2-1 victory.
Ross Detwiler, 23, made his second major league start and pitched six innings of one-hit ball for Washington before being lifted with the score 1-all. The lone hit against the left-hander was an infield single by Nick Markakis that drove in a run.
As soon as Detwiler left, Baltimore took the lead against a bullpen that came in 2-16 with a 6.42 ERA.
Gregg Zaun hit a one-out double off Julian Tavarez (1-4) before being thrown out at third on a grounder to shortstop. Huff, omitted from the starting lineup because of his 1-for-18 slump, stepped in to hit for Brian Bass.
Manny Acta put Ron Villone on the mound and Huff lined a 1-1 fastball off the top of the center-field wall. Baltimore pinch hitters were 1 for 18 before the hit.
Bass (3-1) pitched three innings of three-hit relief after replacing starter Koji Uehara, who blanked Washington for three innings before leaving with left hamstring tightness. It's the same injury the Japanese right-hander had during spring training.
George Sherrill struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save and second in two nights.
Cristian Guzman homered for the Nationals and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman went 1 for 3 to reach base in a 41st consecutive game. The single-season franchise record is 42, held by Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos in 1986.
The Orioles took the lead in the third. After Detwiler issued three walks, including a four-pitch free pass to Uehara, Markakis hit a slow roller to Zimmerman. The grounder turned into an RBI single when second baseman Willie Harris failed to cover the bag, leaving Zimmerman no choice but to hold the ball.
The bottom half was strikingly similar. Uehara walked Nick Johnson and Zimmerman with two outs before Adam Dunn hit a grounder that struck first base. Ty Wigginton fielded the bounce, but Uehara didn't cover. That loaded the bases for Austin Kearns, who grounded out.
Guzman tied it in the fifth with his second homer of the season, a shot to right that landed in the Washington bullpen
