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Simontacchi strong as Nationals hold off Indians

Jun 24, 2007 - 11:34 PM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Jason Simontacchi bounced back in a big way.

Simontacchi tossed six solid innings and rookie Jesus Flores knocked in two runs for the Washington Nationals, who eked out a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the finale of their three-game interleague series on Sunday afternoon.

Ronnie Belliard stroked three hits for the Nationals, who picked up just their third win in their last nine games, snapping a five-game losing streak. It was Washington's first series win since mid-May.

Simontacchi (5-5) was hammered for a season-high 10 runs and 10 hits in just three innings in a loss to Detroit on Tuesday. But it was a different story this time around for the righthander, who controlled the Indians' dangerous lineup.

"I think the Tigers were hitting the ball a lot better than the Indians were," Simontacchi said. "No question. Just seemed like it was one of those days, I kept the ball down and didn't get behind and moved the ball inside and out."

He allowed one run and four hits, striking out six and walking one. Washington's bullpen did the rest as three middle relievers hurled two frames to bridge the gap to closer Chad Cordero, who tossed a scoreless ninth for his 13th save.

The Nationals started the scoring in the second. Dmitri Young led off with an infield single and, after Austin Kearns flied out, Belliard lined a hit to left - sending Young to third.

Ryan Langerhans could not get the run home, popping out to third. But Flores got the job done, smacking an RBI single to center to break a 1-for-23 slump.

The 22-year-old Flores, who was selected in the Rule V draft, has not played much, but Nationals manager Manny Acta likes what he sees.

"It's very impressive for a guy his age, coming from A ball," Acta said. "Getting out there once a week, twice in 15 days, that's not easy."

In the fourth, Young and Belliard again added singles, setting up Washington with runners on first and third with one out. This time, Langerhans lofted a sacrifice fly to center to make it 2-0.

"I've had some fair success against him, no rhyme or reason," said Young, who now is 15-for-29 against Indians starter Jake Westbrook. "He's a great pitcher, and I just happen to get good wood against him."

Cleveland left fielder Franklin Gutierrez cut the lead in half with a solo homer in the fifth.

But the Nationals added an insurance run in the seventh thanks to Belliard, who smacked his third hit of the game - a booming double to left-center field. Langerhans bunted Belliard to third, and Flores knocked him in with a groundout to shortstop.

Westbrook (1-3), who was making his first start after coming off the 15-day disabled list with a strained left abdominal muscle, pitched well - yielding three runs and seven hits while striking out two and not walking a batter.

"I pitched pretty well, but I made a few mistakes and cost us the game," Westbrook said. "They manufactured a couple of runs. They did a good job of getting a couple of hits per inning."

Josh Barfield had two hits for Cleveland, which has lost three of its last five games.