Washington, DC – Gio Gonzalez was dominant again at Nationals Park.
After throwing seven innings of two-hit ball against the Reds in his last start on April 12, he duplicated that performance against the Astros in a 1-0 win for Washington. Gonzalez (1-0) threw seven shutout innings and gave up two hits while fanning eight in the middle tilt of the three-game set.
Tyler Clippard turned away the Astros in the eighth and Brad Lidge worked through a shaky ninth to pick up his second save of the season.
Jayson Werth finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored and Adam LaRoche knocked in the only run for the Nationals, who have won seven of their last eight and improved to 9-3 on the young season.
Wandy Rodriguez (0-2) was the hard-luck loser, yielding five hits and no walks while fanning three.
Justin Maxwell, Jed Lowrie, Jordan Schafer and Jose Altuve each had a hit, but it wasn't enough to push across a run, as the Astros lost for the sixth time in seven tries.
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