Five innings, nine innings, it doesn’t matter: Phillies 5, Nationals 4

It was Thorsday in Philadelphia tonight as Noah Syndergaard took the mound in his first start for the team since being acquired at the trade deadline. Arguably the most exciting acquisition the team made thanks to some serious name recognition, Syndergaard had the fortune of facing a National lineup bereft of major league talent.

Being followers of the Phillies, we all knew how this was going to go.

The first inning saw the Nationals jump out to an early lead when the leadoff hitter Victor Robles led off with a double, then score on a one out single by Luke Voit. The defense picked Syndergaard up by getting the next two outs, but fidgeting was already happening in regards to this game. Luckily, in the bottom of the first, the game was tied very quickly when Rhys Hoskins stepped up and delivered a tying home run.

In the second inning, Maikel Franco got a two out single for the Nationals, then somehow stole second on the notoriously slow to the plate Syndergaard. Cesar Hernandez stepped up, ripped a single to center to score Franco and give the lead right back to the Nationals. That lead held for another inning, though the third saw the Nationals have a few more hits and another stolen base. This could be an issue for Syndergaard.

In the bottom of the third, the Phillies’ lineup began to wake up a bit. Three straight singles by Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber and Hoskins gave the Phillies another run and runners on the corners with no one out, bringing up Alec Bohm. As hot as he has been lately, the power is what has been missing a bit from Bohm’s game, though it’s made some appearances lately. Here, it made another big appearance when Paolo Espino hung a curveball that Bohm golfed out for a three run shot, making the score 5-2.

The fourth passed by without incident, but in the fifth, the Nationals started getting to Syndergaard again. Three straight singles to start the innings gave them a run and runners on first and second, then a one out single loaded the bases. A wild pitch scored Voit, the runner on third and the game was now uncomfortable at 5-4, runners on second and third and one out. Josh Palacios was the batter and he lifted a fly ball into right field, and.....

It was a huge play by Castellanos as it made the game official and came right before the rain came and made things messy, sending it into a rain delay.

It took two hours, but the game was finally called and the win was secured.