The next best thing to concession: Phillies 13, Nationals 1

If the Washington Nationals decided to concede the remainder of the 2022 season, I wouldn’t blame them. And I’m not sure it would make all that much of a difference. The roster they’re currently fielding is woefully short on talent, and that’s being reflected by the scoreboard. The Phillies’ 13-1 win on Sunday capped off a four-game sweep in which the Phillies outscored the Nats by a cumulative 24 runs.

The Phillies won a rain-shortened contest to open the series on Thursday, and in hindsight, it was probably a blessing for the Nationals that the game was called early. Because their pitching staff spent the next three games getting absolutely wrecked by the Phillies’ offense.

The Phillies actually went scoreless in the first inning as Rhys Hoskins’ streak of first inning homers came to a close. But both he and the Phillies would more than make up for that later. The scoring started with Darick Hall’s home run in the second.

They had an opportunity to open up a big early lead with the bases loaded and nobody out in the third, but they only managed one run. Against most opponents, that kind of failure might bite them\, but wasting opportunities is apparently only a problem when you’re facing a major league caliber pitching staff.

The Phillies offense really got going in the fourth when Nick Maton marked his first start since returning from the Injured List by sending one into the seats.

Maton was 3-4 with four RBIs, and still might not have been the Phillies’ best player on Sunday since Darick Hall added his second home run of the game later in the inning.

Sandwiched in between those blasts came a two-run shot by Hoskins.

He was hit by a pitch later in the game, which feels a little bush league, but they might have legitimately thought it was the only way to keep him from hitting a home run.

Aaron Nola was the lucky recipient of all that run support, and while it wasn’t the cleanest start of his career, giving up one run in six innings is still a solid day of work. The series has been so lopsided that the Phillies chose to close out the game with three of their best relievers (Seranthony Dominguez, Conor Brogdon, and David Robertson) simply to give them some work.

Sadly, the series has come to a close, and after an off-day, the Phillies will face an actual opponent in the Marlins. The good news is that the Phillies still have seven more games remaining against the Nationals this season. Odds say that the Nats should be able to win at least one of those games, but after watching them this past weekend, I’m not sure they’re actually capable of it.