A Swarm of Nats: Phillies at Nationals, Aug. 14-16, 2007

by dajafi on Aug 14, 2007 2:13 PM EDT in News

August 14: Phillies 3, Nationals 2 WP: Alfoneseca (4-1) LP: Rauch (8-3) S: Myers (10)

August 15: Nationals 4, Phillies 2 WP: Redding (2-3) LP: Kendrick (5-3) S: Cordero (27)

August 16: Phillies 4, Nationals 2 WP: Hamels (14-5) LP: Hanrahan (2-1) S: Myers (11)

For more on the Nationals, please visit our SBN sister site Federal Baseball

It's pretty clear that the fans and the media aren't overlooking this week's trip to Washington and Pittsburgh, two last-place teams whose principal business for the rest of 2007 is evaluating young players and trying to spoil things for the contenders. The players themselves are saying the right things. Then again, all this was true in April when the concern was yet another slow start to the season--and in a sense, the Phillies are still digging out from their 3-10 mark through the first 13 games.

The ever-pesky Washington Nationals are first on the docket, starting tonight at superannuated and pitcher-friendly RFK Stadium. The Nats' temporary DC digs has been something of a house of horrors for the Phillies, never more so than last September when a Chase Utley home run was incorrectly called foul, a crucial game was pushed back into the early AM hours, and the team's playoff hopes were fatally injured as they lost two of three. This year's Washington model is probably even less talented than last season's 71-91 squad, which had Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson--but they're playing harder, a tribute to first-year manager Manny Acta. The Nats have played .600 ball (18-12) since the all-star break, and now trail the Marlins by just a game for fourth place in the NL East; don't underestimate the value of that accomplishment for a young team trying to find an identity.

Washington sends talented young pitcher Shawn Hill, making his first start after three months on the injured list, to the mound against the Phillies tonight. Hill is 2-1 with a 5.09 ERA in three career starts facing the Phils, but he threw a gem in April: 8 innings, four hits, two runs in a 4-2 Washington win. Well-traveled Tim Redding takes the hill Wednesday, and another youngster, Joel Hanrahan, pitches the finale on Thursday. All three pitchers have ERAs under 2.90 for the season. The Phils counter with Kyle Lohse, Kyle Kendrick and Cole Hamels.

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Lock and Lohse

Double one-hitter through 5. Shawn Hill of Washington looks like Pedro Martinez in his prime, and Kyle Lohse has been nearly as good--admittedly, against a considerably weaker lineup.

Still, the Lohse deal is looking pretty shrewd at this moment: he did well in winning his first non-abbreviated start last week against the Marlins, and he's held Washington off the board (while putting up a fairly low pitch count) thus far in this one, on a night when the opposing pitcher has been amazing (but is probably almost done--he's on an 80-pitch limit after a long DL stint). So far, so good.

by dajafi on Aug 14, 2007 8:26 PM EDT reply actions

Branyan

Holy crap, he hit that a ton.

by WholeCamels on Aug 14, 2007 9:27 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Branyan

Can't wait to see what the WPA is on that jam.

by WholeCamels on Aug 14, 2007 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Rauch-around

I guess the Phils aren't the only team to play reliever roulette to often disastrous results. Washington took out Ayala, who struck out Burrell, Howard and Rowand in succession and has dominated the Phillies through his whole career, because Rauch is their Eighth-Inning Guy. A Zimmerman error, Ruiz single, and Branyan moonshot later, and the Phils are ahead 3-2.

Nice inning from Gordon just now: strikeout of Zimmerman, single by Fick, sweet 4-6-3 DP with Rollins turning it beautifully. Phils lead 3-2 thru 8.

by dajafi on Aug 14, 2007 9:37 PM EDT reply actions

Branyan, bullpen, boo-yah

Phils relievers have now retired the last 15 men they've faced, striking out I believe 8 of them. (Okay, technically Tom Gordon did give up a single in the 8th, but he got the next guy on a DP.)

Myers looked unreal out there tonight, and I have to admit I'm coming around on the idea of him staying out there as a closer... more on this later in the week.

It's looking like the Phils, Braves and Mets, all trailing tonight, might all win.

Also, if Branyan goes 0-for the rest of the season, he's already done as much as could be reasonably hoped: win one game with a bomb.

by dajafi on Aug 14, 2007 10:00 PM EDT reply actions

Re: A Swarm of Nats: Phillies at Nationals, Aug. 1

Really the only drawback of tonight was that the Mets won too...

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Aug 14, 2007 10:13 PM EDT reply actions

Re: A Swarm of Nats

One down, five to go, and one has to like the pitching matchups in these next two right?

by das411 on Aug 15, 2007 2:32 AM EDT reply actions

Kyles

Is this the first "Double Kyle" rotation in baseball history?

Add "Cole" and you have a sweet trifecta.

Sort of like the zoo rotation a few years back - Byrd, Wolf, Duckworth, and... a Person to wrangle them.

by WholeCamels on Aug 15, 2007 9:43 AM EDT reply actions

Re: Kyles

It's a little surprising that Sarge hasn't started calling Hamels "Kyle." Yet.

by dajafi on Aug 15, 2007 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Re: Kyles

Larry Andersen yesterday referred to our new home run hero as "Ryan Branyan". Which brought back some memories.

by taco pal on Aug 15, 2007 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Kyles

Heh. I was in San Francisco over the weekend and kept seeing signs for "Brannan Street." It made me sad that our erstwhile closer of the future almost certainly will never get a thoroughfare named after him in Philly...

by dajafi on Aug 15, 2007 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

what i was saying in a previous thread

last year, i attended that game at RFK that started after midnight. there were about 400 people, three quarters of which were phils fans. when they did the presidents race, fans starting shanting "ran-dall si-mon."

this time around, you can keep the rhythm but change the honoree.

russ-ell bran-yan, clap clap clapclapclap

what a shot that was. sitting in the 300 level behind home plate, it sounded like someone snapped a telephone poll.

by gr on Aug 15, 2007 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

Swarm of Nats 2

So we're all agreed, this one was on Howard?

by das411 on Aug 16, 2007 2:05 AM EDT reply actions

Re: Swarm of Nats 2

No.

by jonk on Aug 16, 2007 7:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Re: A Swarm of Nats: Phillies at Nationals

Wow, did that game ever suck.

by taco pal on Aug 16, 2007 10:54 AM EDT reply actions

third game

Through seven, and Antonio Alfonseca has just struck out Felipe Lopez with the bases loaded to preserve the Phils' 3-0 lead.

The pitching--6 2/3 scoreless from Hamels, and two battling ABs from Alf (Tony Batista worked a walk in the first)--is the good news. The bad is that this team's bats are almost totally silent. Aside from Carlos Ruiz's early two-run homer, the Phils don't have an extra-base hit tonight. The bottom of the lineup has saved them again thus far--Ruiz is 2-2 with a walk, Werth walked ahead of the homer, and Nunez has walked twice--but the big guys have to come around soon.

Ah, and just as I typed that, Werth leads off the 8th with a double.

One piece of good news is that Shane Victorino's MRI today showed no new damage despite his early exit from a Reading Phillies game Tuesday night. He'll get treated with the team in Pittsburgh this weekend, and is likely to go back on rehab next Monday.

by dajafi on Aug 16, 2007 9:33 PM EDT reply actions

also, Tom Gordon stinks

Flash comes in and makes a comfortable game "interesting" by allowing two solo homers and a walk. Romero allows a seeing-eye single to Charlotte Church (who's quickly become the young player in the game I hate the most), goes 3-0 on Jesus Flores (who beat Mike Zagurski in an ill-advised lefty-righty matchup last month)--then escapes on a line drive double play when Roberson doubles off Austin Kearns.

Hopefully Myers--whom the Nats announcers all night have been characterizing as an unhittable fire-breathing closer--can end it without any more excitement. My digestion is strongly rooting for this outcome.

by dajafi on Aug 16, 2007 10:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: A Swarm of Nats: Phillies at Nationals, Aug. 1

The offense has really sputtered this series. Burrell has been what? 1-15 or something in this series?

Sure hope this doesn't mean he's suddenly become ice cold.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Aug 16, 2007 11:48 PM EDT reply actions

Re: A Swarm of Nats: Phillies at Nationals, Aug. 1

They're pretty much all hitting like crap recently.

by WholeCamels on Aug 17, 2007 8:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Can you believe...

...that we could have easily been swept in this series (and hurt badly in the playoff race) if not for Russell Branyan and Chris Roberson?! Baseball is a strange game.

by taco pal on Aug 17, 2007 11:04 AM EDT reply actions