Feels like 2010: Phillies 6, Nationals 0

Ten years ago, the Phillies were a very good baseball team, the Nationals were a very bad one, and that dichotomy was often reflected in the score when the teams played each other. Sadly, things had changed in recent seasons, but thus far in 2020 - despite what the Nationals’ social media team might have you believe - it feels like that old dynamic has been restored. On Tuesday night, the Phillies continued to dominate their division rivals as they won by a score of 6-0.

Early on, it felt like a pitchers’ duel was brewing between Aaron Nola and Patrick Corbin. Both men traded zeroes across the first four innings, but the Phillies finally broke through in the fifth courtesy of Alec Bohm’s first career home run at Citizens Bank Park.

Maybe that’s not as impressive as the home runs Juan Soto hit the night before, but on the other hand, Bohm’s homer actually helped his team win. #NATITUDE

The Phillies added another run in the fifth thanks to J.T. Realmuto’s RBI single. But perhaps more importantly, they had caused Corbin to rack up a healthy pitch total of 92, forcing him from the game. Given a chance to do some damage against the Nationals’ bullpen, the Phillies’ offense didn’t falter. Bohm doubled in a run, and then the red hot Andrew McCutchen murdered a baseball to tack on three more.

Unlike his counterpart, Aaron Nola stayed in the game through eight innings. Those eight innings featured a lot of strikeouts (nine), but not a lot of hits (two) or runs (zero). Hector Neris was required to finish off the game, but despite allowing his customary two base runners, he was able to preserve the shutout.

The Phillies will look to improve to 5-0 against the Nats on Wednesday night. They’ll have Max Scherzer on the mound, and in some seasons, that might have caused some worry for the Phillies. But in 2020, with the Phillies lineup performing as well as it has been? Scherzer is the one who should probably feel worried.