Call-up Watson dooms Indians

Brandon Watson got two hits and two RBIs to lead the Nationals to a 4-1 win.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maybe Brandon Watson really can hit on this level.

A few days after earning a promotion based on a 43-game minor league hitting streak, Watson went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to help the Washington Nationals beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night.

With his boyish face, slender frame and crouched extremely low in his new stance, Watson looked straight out of Little League instead of the Triple-A Columbus, but he got his first multi-RBI game in the majors with a fourth-inning single and a sixth-inning hit that he stretched into a double with pure hustle and a headfirst slide. Both hits came with two outs and the pitcher on deck.

Cristian Guzman had three hits, including his first home run at RFK Stadium, and seven Nationals pitchers limited the Indians to eight hits with 13 strikeouts.

Pitchers rebound

Washington’s hurlers rebounded after getting clobbered nightly in a three-game sweep by Detroit, with Saul Rivera (2-2) throwing a perfect sixth inning to get the win and Chad Cordero pitching the ninth for his 12th save.

Fausto Carmona (8-3) took the loss, allowing three runs and 10 hits over six innings.

Watson had not played well in his previous but brief stints in the majors, hitting .175 in 25 games in 2005 and .179 in 10 games last year. He was claimed on waivers by Cincinnati after his demotion to the minors in 2006, and he wasn’t expected to make much of an impact with the Nationals after he rejoined their farm system this year.

But the 43-game hitting streak — an International League record — earned him a callup. He went 0-for-3 in his season debut Wednesday, but Friday’s performance was his first multi-hit game since his major league debut against Houston on Aug. 9, 2005.

Chances lost

The Nationals squandered early chances before Watson came through. Guzman and Felipe Lopez led off the game with back-to-back singles, but Carmona retired the next three batters. Guzman and Lopez singled again with one out in the third, but Ryan Zimmerman hit into a double play.

Then, in the fourth, Watson’s slicing single to left scored Ryan Church. The inning had been extended when second baseman Josh Barfield couldn’t get the ball out of his glove to complete what appeared to be a certain double play.

The Nationals had the bases loaded with none out in the sixth, but Brian Schneider hit into a double play that scored one run. Watson followed with a double to right and raced to beat Grady Sizemore’s throw by stretching his left arm to beat the tag.

Peralta gets RBI

The Indians scored their only run off Micah Bowie in the third, when Jhonny Peralta singled after back-to-back two-out walks.

The Nationals have yet to lose when Bowie starts. He is 4-0 — and the team is 7-0 — in his turn in the rotation since he was moved out of the bullpen because of injuries to several starters.

Bowie struck out seven, but he had thrown 104 pitches by the time he was removed with one out and two men on base in the fifth. It was Bowie’s shortest outing since his first start on May 20.

Luis Ayala, making his 2007 debut more than a year blowing out his elbow in the World Baseball Classic, relieved Bowie and allowed a bloop single but got out of the inning when pinch-hitter Travis Hafner hit into a double play.

Rivera, Ray King, Jesus Colome, Jon Rauch and Cordero shut out the Indians the rest of the way. Cleveland had the tying run at bat in the eighth, but Rauch struck out pinch-hitter Trot Nixon.