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Nationals edge Brewers on wild pitch in ninth

May 25, 2008 - 10:25 PM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - When Elijah Dukes joined the Washington Nationals after a troubled past, they were hoping for lots of big hits. On Sunday, he scored a big run.

With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Dukes raced home on Guillermo Mota's wild pitch to give the Nationals a 7-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

With one out in the inning, Dukes, who is batting just .105, walked off Mota (1-3). Pinch-hitter Dmitri Young singled to right to send Dukes to third.

With Felipe Lopez at the plate, Mota's next pitch was in the dirt, eluding catcher Mike Rivera. Dukes never hesitated from third.

"I said I was going to just be prepared to run if anything got away," Dukes said. "That kind of pumps the team up. We don't always have to hit the long ball. We can also just outhustle people and win, too."

Dukes had legal problems last year, and Tampa Bay was happy to trade him for a minor league pitcher.

Young, who had been last year's reclamation project for the Nationals, was assigned to mentor Dukes. So far, Dukes' off-the-field behavior has been exemplary, but his on-field exploits have left something to be desired.

"That (Dukes' walk) was a professional at-bat," Young said. "It was probably the best at-bat he had this year."

The Brewers, who were expected to contend for the NL Central crown, have lost eight of their last 11 to fall four games under .500.

"We were trying to go with a changeup away," Rivera said. "I was sitting in the middle away a little bit. He overthrew it, and I didn't have no chance."

Mota felt that the changeup was the best option for a possible inning-ending double play.

"Of course, it's tough," he said. "When you're in a situation like that, you try to do the best you can. I was trying to ... (not) do that."

Jon Rauch (3-1), the fourth Washington pitcher of the afternoon, got the win, pitching a scoreless ninth.

The Nationals scored a run in the first off Manny Parra. Cristian Guzman doubled with one out. He moved to third on an infield out and scored on a wild pitch by Parra.

Washington scored three in the fourth. Ryan Zimmerman and Aaron Boone led off with singles. Lastings Milledge doubled to left to score Zimmerman, and Wily Mo Pena doubled to drive in Boone and Milledge to give the Nationals a 4-0 lead.

Aaron Boone's fourth home run of the year, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, drove Parra from the game. He allowed six runs and seven hits, walking three and striking out three.

Tim Redding shut out the Brewers through five innings, though he allowed six hits in the first four innings. In the sixth, Redding was shelled, and the Brewers tied the score with six runs-most in an inning this season.

Prince Fielder led off with a single. Corey Hart homered and Russell Branyan doubled. With two out, Joe Dillon singled to score Branyan, and Redding faced Rickie Weeks, who had struck out his first three times at-bat.

With an 0-2 count, Redding hit Weeks, and Saul Rivera replaced Redding. Mike Cameron doubled to drive home Dillon and Weeks, and Gabe Kapler tied the game at 6-6 with a single.

"It's easy to lose all your energy once you've lost a six-run lead," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "When we score that many runs, we usually end up winning."

Mota pitched two innings on Saturday, and was in his second inning on Sunday.

"We really didn't have a whole lot of options," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said.