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Germano, Bowen carry Padres past Nationals

Jun 3, 2007 - 5:48 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Justin Germano likely cemented his spot in the San Diego Padres' starting rotation

Germano won his fourth straight start and collected his first career hit as the Padres coasted to an 11-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

"I think that he's proven to himself in his starts that he's deserving to be in the rotation," Padres manager Bud Black said. "At this point, I don't think we need to make any changes in the immediate future. He knows what's happening. This is a performance game and he's performing."

Germano, who added a double in the sixth, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. He went 4-0 with a lowly 1.59 ERA in five starts prior to being called up May from Class AAA Portland in place of injured Clay Hensley.

"I think he feels as though he belongs in a major-league uniform," Black said. "He's a confident young pitcher making pitches."

The 24-year-old Germano confirmed that sentiment.

"I was talking to my girlfriend last night about how it just feels like it's any other game up here," he said. "My first stint up here, even in the games I wasn't pitching, I was just still in awe of the whole atmosphere up here - the stadiums and the crowds. But now it's just starting to feel like it's just another game and that's helping my confidence level.

"Stuff-wise I felt like was the best night of all my starts," Germano added. "I was able to throw all my pitches for strikes pretty much whenever I wanted. I was happy with all my pitches."

Well, all but one that Washington first baseman Dmitri Young blasted into the mezzanine section of right-center field, pulling the Nationals to 6-3 in the sixth inning.

"The home run wasn't that bad of a pitch," Germano said. "It was up a little bit but location-wise it was away where I wanted it, but it was sky-high instead of being down at the knees. Tip your hat to him. That ball was crushed."

Germano, however, was the first pitcher in three nights to deny Young from getting a hit. Young had hit safely in a franchise-record eight consecutive at-bats before Germano covered the bag and took a throw from first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to retire Young in the first inning. Germano also got his glove on Young's comebacker in the fourth and second baseman Marcus Giles completed the 1-4-3 putout.

"When I first got called up, I knew it was just for a couple starts, so I just wanted to do well and build my confidence up with each start and that's what I've been able to do," Germano said. "It's still early, but I definitely feel like I earned a spot to stay up here for a little bit. I'm not saying off of five starts that I should be locked in, but I definitely am happy about the way that I've been pitching since I've been up."

Catcher Rob Bowen was also huge for the Padres, collecting a career-high four RBI.

"The first at-bat I was just trying to get a ball in the air to the outfield and get one guy in," Bowen said. "Same thing with the bases loaded, I'm just trying to get a pitch I can drive out there and fortunately I hit it right down the first base-line and scored a couple of guys."

The Padres scored six runs in the first inning against starter Levale Speigner (1-2). After Giles drew a leadoff walk, Terrmel Sledge and Gonzalez singled.

Both hits appeared to be routine popups to the outfield as Sledge's dropped in front of Nationals center fielder Nook Logan and Gonzalez's hit fell between shortstop Cristian Guzman and left fielder Ryan Church.

"The guy took a big swing and hit it off the end of the bat," Logan said. "If I would have frozen instead of taking a step back I could've got to it, but if he hit it off the barrel with that swing that ball's off the wall somewhere. That's guy's got pop. When a guy with power takes a swing like that, your first move is to go back."

"If those two plays would have went different, it might have been a better game," Logan added.

Kevin Kouzmanoff and Khalil Greene followed with RBI singles. Paul McAnulty then reached on an RBI fielder's choice when Nationals third baseman Zimmerman made a diving stab but could not convert a forceout at second.

After Bowen lofted a sacrifice fly to left, Germano and Giles delivered RBI singles for a 6-0 lead. All but three San Diego starters had an RBI in the inning.

"I can't remember too many (big innings) that we've had all year so it definitely was the exception to the rule, but it's nice any time you can get out to a big lead. But even better than that, I think, was being able to come back and score some runs after they scored some runs."

The Nationals managed only two hits off Germano in the first five innings.

Pinch hitter Ryan Langerhans led off with a single to left before Felipe Lopez bounced into a double play. Guzman followed with a triple off the center-field wall and scored on an run-scoring single up the middle by Zimmerman. Young followed with his fifth home run of the season.

"We did a great job of holding them after that first inning to give us a chance to come back," Zimmerman said. "We're proud of the way we battled back and the way that Speigner hung in there and kept it close. After six runs in the first inning if you have a chance late, I think that's pretty good."

Bowen's three-run double scored Kouzmanoff, Greene and McAnulty to give the Padres a 9-3 lead in the seventh and McAnulty hit a two-run homer - his first of the season - in the ninth to cap the scoring.

Speigner allowed six runs on seven hits in four innings. He struck out three and walked one.

"You feel bad because that's the way it's been all season for (Speigner)," Zimmerman said. "He's pitched pretty well and just had some bad luck, but that's part of the game. He battled through it and stayed out there and went strong for a few more innings."