The Angels never held the lead and allowed a run in the ninth to break the 4-4 tie and give the Nats the win to avoid being swept.
The Angels were down 2-0 after the first but tied it up by the third. Torii Hunter singled in the second and was driven home by Gary Matthews Jr.’s RBI-double. The next inning, Erick Aybar singled and came around to score off Hunter’s RBI-single. They then had the bases loaded with one out, but a fly ball by Kendrick to nail Anderson at the plate ended the threat. The Angels remained scoreless until tying it in the eighth by rallying for two runs. They had the go-ahead run at third but left him on base when Matthews Jr. struck out to end the inning.
Ervin Santana had a rare poor outing, giving up four runs on four hits and five walks. He allowed the Nats to take the lead in the first by giving up a two-run homerun. He then gave up two more in the six to again give the Nats the lead. He loaded the bases and then gave up a walk for one run followed by an RBI-single to make it 4-2 and to end his night. The Angels came back to tie it but Scott Shields gave up the winning run, his first in 15 1/3 innings. He allowed an RBI-single to Jesus Flores for the walk-off win and his second loss.
The Angels snap their five game win streak with this first loss of the road trip. They have today off before heading into a weekend series with cross-town Interleague rival Dodgers.
