Nationals Dominate Phillies 15-1
Citizens Bank Park, PA- This one was all Nats from the start of the game. Philadelphia Phillies pitching could not limit walks and quiet the bats of the eager Washington Nationals; that is the story of this game. In the first, they put a three spot on the board and never looked back.
All players in the starting lineup- excluding Wilmer Difo- filled up the box score and put the Phillies out of competition by mid-game. In the fourth inning, the club had already put up seven runs and were digging into the opposing team’s bullpen.
More important than runs, the bullpen managed to follow in Jeremy Hellickson’s marvelous outing (which also happened to be his first start on the season) by giving up only one run. As it is well documented, the Nationals bullpen has been one of the worst in the league this season. New year, same problems. With a simple eye test, the National League East will be more competitive than in years past. Clearly things can change- take the New York Mets hot start of the 2018 season for example- but the Nationals need to stay in close distance of all these teams, to avoid a repeat of last year. And that means limiting damage once the starting pitcher exits the game.
They won this one 15-1, ending with Trevor Rosenthal on the mound. He recorded his first out tonight, which he was not able to do in his previous nine innings of work. The Phillies managed to get one on the board in his appearance as he was still visibly in his head the entire outing, but knowing he has outs recorded has to be a step in the right direction!
Nats look to start the series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. If healthy enough to go, Max Scherzer will start in that game (got hit in the ankle on Saturday’s affair [nothing severe reported]). 7:05pm EST on 4/12 at Nationals Park with a Juan Soto bobblehead promotion.
