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Nationals' Redding dazzles in return to Minute Maid Park

Aug 21, 2007 - 5:12 AM By Jeremy Rakes PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

HOUSTON (Ticker) - Tim Redding made an impressive return to Minute Maid Park.

Redding threw seven shutout innings and All-Star Dmitri Young homered as the Washington Nationals coasted to a 7-0 victory over the Houston Astros in Monday's series opener.

A former Astro, Redding yielded six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in his first trip to Houston since being dealt in the spring of 2005. He was drafted by the Astros in 1997.

"(Monday) had nothing to do with wanting to prove something or show them anything," Redding said. "It was a mutual break. I felt I needed to leave there to try to get my career going the way I thought it was supposed to get going."

"Everyone knows that he was called up because we needed a guy due to injuries," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "It seems like his stuff is back. He's done a tremendous job for us."

Redding said he had no hard feeling toward Houston.

"They were in a situation where they needed to get a catcher," he said. "It worked out both ways. There were no hard feelings. Do I wish I could have stayed> Sure I wish I could have done well and stayed. But the business of this game is to move on."

Redding (3-3) once was promising prospect in Houston's farm system but never panned out, going 21-28 with a 4.75 ERA from 2001-04 before he was dealt to San Diego.

The 29-year-old was in danger in the fifth inning with runners on the corners, but got Craig Biggio to fly out and forced Mark Loretta to ground into an inning-ending double play.

"Hats off to the guys behind me for being on their toes. The double plays were huge," Redding said. "It didn't seem like I had a real easy inning until the seventh. These guys came out swinging. We got out to the big lead, and it's easier to pitch when you know you've got runs on the board."

With Washington holding a 1-0 lead in the third, Young stroked a three-run shot and Ryan Church added an RBI double before Wily Mo Pena's run-scoring base hit capped an impressive five-run uprising off Astros starter Jason Jennings (2-9).

"(Jennings) has trouble making his pitches," Houston manger Phil Garner said. "He looked good on some guys, but then he would face those where he couldn't get the ball where he wanted to."

Acquired from the Boston Red Sox on Friday, Pena opened the scoring in the second with his seventh homer of the season and second in as many nights. His homered was measured at 390 feet.

"One swing of the bat. (Pena) has that kind of power," Young said. "Now he's getting the opportunity to play. We've got four guys playing the outfield and they're shifting around. He's going to have a good chance to get some at-bats and be a part of our future."

Washington added some insurance in the fifth on Brian Schneider's sacrifice fly that plated Young, who laced a leadoff single.

It was another disappointing outing for Jennings, who gave up six runs and seven hits through four frames to fall to 0-2 against Washington this season. He was tagged for seven runs in five innings at RFK Stadium on June 18.

"He's really struggling to get some consistency," Garner said. "Dmitri has been tough on him, but he makes a decent pitch on the slider and Dmitri goes down and gets it and hits it out of the ballpark. It's the little things that kind of snowball on him."

In his last five starts, Jennings has an ERA of 11.86, with all of those outings ending in Astros' losses. Houston's starters have allowed more than three earned runs four times in the last 14 games, with the righthander starting three of those games.

"It's been a battle all year long arm-wise, even after I came off the DL," Jennings said. "I feel like I'm throwing the ball better than I have. These last couple starts I feel like I have thrown the ball better than I have the last month or two. Just no results to show for it."