Bonds vs. The Nats: Night 1

How about that? Despite the fact that John Lannan looked incredibly shaky in the Nationals' 3-2 extra-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants, He still had the wherewithal to give up exactly one run -- none of which came off the bat of Barry Bonds. Even more incredible was the fact that the one run came off of eight hits and five walks. Yes, Lannan let 13 batters reach base and only one of them, Rajai Davis in the first inning, made it to home plate.

When faced four times with the Giants' star slugger, Lannan had a distinct advantage in that Barry Bonds had never seen (and, in fact, probably never heard of) him. Therefore, when Lannan's breaking curveball flew towards him in the first inning, Bonds was not ready for it. Instead of taking a sure home run ball into McCovey Cove, Bonds popped the ball high in the air towards the Giants' dugout, well within the range of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

After a walk in the third (which drew the obligatory chorus of boos), Bonds had a great chance against Lannan in the fifth. A fastball sailing towards the outside corner, which was a similar pitch to the one that became 755 in San Diego, was hit from above and bounced harmlessly to second baseman Ronnie Belliard for a double play.

In the seventh, Lannan finally showed just how much potential he has. After feeding Bonds several pitches around the outside corner to bring the count to 2-1, Lannan fired a killer fastball up and in on Bonds. Usually, such a pitch is an easy homer for Bonds, but he simply swung under it because he wasn't ready for an up-and-in fastball. on the 2-2 pitch, Lannan sent the ball sailing towards the same spot, but just before it hit the plate, the pitch fell like a rock and Bonds swung right over the top of it.

Now, if Bonds had such a difficult time with a pitcher who was decidedly not having their best day, you have to think that more experienced pitchers will have what it takes to knock Bonds down a notch. The main issue is that Bonds has faced both Mike Bacsik and Tim Redding before. However, these two pitchers are throwing the best they ever have, and the Giants will certainly have trouble with them. I'm very much looking forward to the next few nights, and I still stand behind my initial judgement that 756 will not be hit against the Nationals.

Note: Ronnie Belliard and Dimitri Young are still tearing up opposing teams. End statement.