Odalis Perez showed up at Petco Park on Wednesday afternoon weak and in pain after having emergency root canal. But the veteran left-hander insisted he never considered not making his scheduled start against the Padres.
"No," Perez said. "I said, 'Let me get to the ballpark, because I don't feel good at all.' But I came in and took a pill, the pain goes away and I was able to go out." Perez didn't just pitch for the Nationals. He wound up thriving, tossing 6 1/3 quality innings to lead Washington to a 6-4 win over San Diego.
The 30-year-old lefty said he first started feeling pain in one of his lower left molars about 10 days ago. The pain became so unbearable Tuesday night that he was unable to sleep and just stayed awake watching "SportsCenter" reruns all night. He finally scheduled a dentist appointment for Wednesday morning, spent more than four hours getting his root canal and then showed up at the ballpark.
"He did a tremendous job," manager Manny Acta said. "The guy had a root canal this morning and went out there and battled for us. I think we're scheduling (another) one in five days for him."
NATIONALS 6, PADRES 4: Jesus Flores hit his first career grand slam, Lastings Milledge added a solo homer and Odalis Perez tossed 6 1/3 strong innings despite having a root canal earlier in the day to lead Washington to victory. Flores, the second-year catcher now hitting .344 with two homers and 14 RBIs in 19 games, took veteran Shawn Estes deep in the fourth inning to put the Nationals ahead 4-0. Perez, taking painkillers to help him get through the game, then did the rest, allowing one run through six innings before giving up two more in the seventh.
