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The dirty dozen: Phillies 12, Nationals 6

A seemingly unimpressive lineup powered the Phillies to twelve runs in a win over the Nationals

By The Smarty Jones
Philadelphia Phillies v Washington Nationals
Rafael Marchan was just one of the unheralded Phillies to have a big night
Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

When the Phillies’ lineup for Tuesday night’s game was posted, there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm for their chances.

There was one thing people forgot: The Nationals pitching staff sucks. Even though the non-Bryce Harper names in the Phillies’ lineup don’t seem that impressive, they continued to score a lot of runs; Twelve to be exact, marking the sixth game in a row where they’ve scored seven or more. The result of the outburst was a 12-6 win, their fifth in a row.

The starting pitchers were Patrick Corbin and Matt Moore, who have been two of the worst starting pitchers in the National League, and they lived up to that billing on Tuesday. Moore put the Phillies in an early 3-0 hole, and after the Phillies got two of them back, he promptly served up a two-run homer to emerging Phillies nemesis Carter Kieboom.

Fortunately, the relievers who followed Moore had more success. Bailey Falter, Sam Coonrod, Jose Alvardo, and Hector Neris all had scoreless outings, before Enyel de los Santos gave up a run in the ninth.

That relief work allowed the Phillies’ offense to get to work. Their first runs came when Bryce Harper laid down a perfect bunt (It was actually a good spot for him to bunt!), and Andrew McCutchen (remember him?) put one over the fence.

A six-run sixth inning gave the Phillies a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. They had seven hits in the inning with the big blow coming off the bat of Rafael Marchan.

Every batter in the uncelebrated lineup had at least one hit, with newcomer Matt Vierling recording four of them. Bryce Harper continued to both push for the MVP as well as torture his former home fans with a 3-5, 2 RBI night. And the suddenly hot again Brad Miller piled on with a two-run homer in the ninth.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, the weather report in Washington doesn’t look promising for Wednesday. They may have to wait an extra day to attempt to extend their seven-or-more-runs streak to seven games. Maybe the weather will be able to slow down the Phillies momentum, because regardless of who’s been in the Phillies’ lineup, the Nationals pitching staff has proven woefully unable to do so.

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