By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Final: Nationals 5, Phillies 4
In the rubber-match of the Philadelphia Phillies weekend set against the Washington Nationals, two of the era's best pitchers, Max Scherzer and Jake Arrieta, squared off. For the first six innings of the game, the two were dominant. However, neither bullpen was impressive in their relief of the two aces, leading to a particularly dicey finish to the three-game weekend set.
WP: Sean Doolittle (1-1) ❖ LP: Hector Neris (1-2)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| WAS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
The Nationals got on the board first in Sunday's rubber match, with Matt Adams smashing his second home run of the series:
#DemoDay pic.twitter.com/pfbu3k6TWz
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 6, 2018
While Jorge Alfaro continues to strike out at an alarming rate, he's been quite good behind the plate this year. The Nationals tested his arm – which former manager Pete Mackanin called the best that he's ever seen – twice in the bottom of the second inning. Both Andrew Stevenson and Michael A. Taylor paid the price for such actions, as Alfaro threw both of them out:
Cannon. #ElOso pic.twitter.com/nKc5f7OqM9
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 6, 2018
The Phillies, after stranding multiple runners in the top of the fourth and top of the sixth, finally got on the board in the top of the seventh. Pedro Florimon, starting at shortstop, singled into right-field to start the inning. After Florimon stole second base, Scherzer struck out Alfaro for the third time of the day. Though it was the 15th strikeout of the day for Schzerzer, it proved to be the final batter he faced.
Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, with a runner in scoring position, elected to pinch-hit for Arrieta, who cruised through six innings Sunday. It was a rather risky move, given that Arrieta had only thrown 75 pitches and very well could have pitched for two more innings. Still, it couldn't have worked out better for the Phillies in the short-term.
Kapler sent the left-handed hitting Nick Williams up to pinch-hit for Arrieta. This caused Nationals manager Davey Martinez to pull Scherzer in favor of Sammy Solis, a lefty. Williams ultimately looped a single into center field off Solis, tying the game:
Williams' RBI single ties game (00:52)
MLB Gameday: https://t.co/YuwWoC0o4P pic.twitter.com/KKAyxaMhUU
— Ballpark Videos (@BallparkVids) May 6, 2018
Though Brandon Kintzler, who replaced Solis, was able to strike Cesar Hernandez out, he wasn't able to escape the seventh inning unscathed. With two strikes, Rhys Hoskins laced a double into the left-center field gap, which allowed Williams to score the go-ahead run:
Hoskins' go-ahead double (00:55)
MLB Gameday: https://t.co/YuwWoC0o4P pic.twitter.com/GbHcGNQ2Rz
— Ballpark Videos (@BallparkVids) May 6, 2018
Before the inning was over, the Phillies would add a third run on an RBI single, this time off of the bat of Odubel Herrera, who had a three-hit day Sunday.
If Herrera's RBI single wasn't enough insurance (it wasn't), Maikel Franco hit a home run into the Nationals bullpen in the top of the eighth, his second home run in three games:
Franco's solo HR to left (00:45)
MLB Gameday: https://t.co/YuwWoC0o4P pic.twitter.com/qMoqmkLDJV
— Ballpark Videos (@BallparkVids) May 6, 2018
The Nationals did cut into the Phillies lead in the home half of the eighth inning. Tommy Hunter came on in relief for Luis Garcia with one on and one out in the bottom of the eighth. After walking Wilmer Difo, Hunter was able to strike out Bryce Harper, who went cold in the series after homering in his first two at-bats. Hunter wasn't out of the woods yet, though. The team's offseason pickup allowed an infield single to Trea Turner to load up the bases, before Anthony Rendon brought home two runs with an RBI single. Fortunately for the Phillies, Hunter turned to a curveball to retire Adams to end the inning, stranding the bases loaded.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, for as a little command as Hunter had, closer Hector Neris's command was non-existent in the bottom of the ninth. After the Nationals loaded the bases, Neris walked Taylor to tie the game. Difo followed that by placing a floater into center field that allowed the Nationals to win the game and the series:
Wilmer Difo lofts a walk-off single into center field against Hector Neris, driving in Howie Kendrick to give the Nationals a 5-4 win (01:32)
MLB Gameday: https://t.co/YuwWoC0o4P pic.twitter.com/s9ulN5psFr
— Ballpark Videos (@BallparkVids) May 6, 2018
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Arrieta | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.15 |
| Max Scherzer | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 1.74 |
As SportsTalkPhilly.com's Matt Rappa noted in today's game preview, Sunday was the first time since April of 2001 that the last two Cy Young Award winners squared off against each other. In April of 2001, it was Hall of Famers Randy Johnsona and Tom Glavine. Sunday, it was Jake Arrieta – who won the 2015 Cy Young Award while pitching for the Chicago Cubs – and Max Scherzer, who has won two consecutive National League Cy Young Awards, in addition to the 2013 American League Cy Young Award that he won while pitching for the Detroit Tigers.
Scherzer was dominant in six-and-one-third innings Sunday, perhaps to a fault. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out a season-high 15 Phillies Sunday. As Tom McCarthy noted on the telecast, it was the 69th time in Scherzer's career that he struck out over 10 opposing batters in a game.
Unfortunately for Scherzer, it takes at least three pitches per batter to strike a hitter out. The 33-year-old used 111 pitches in six-and-a-third innings. For as dominant as he was, he exited the game with one on and one out in the top of the seventh when Nick Williams pinch hit for Jake Arrieta. That one on was Pedro Florimon, who stole second and was ultimately driven in by Williams, who faced Sammy Solis. That run was charged to Scherzer, who finished with a no-decision today.
Though less flashy, Arrieta had an extremely effective afternoon. With the exception of a solo shot that he allowed to Matt Adams in the bottom of the second inning, Arrieta was nearly perfect. He struck out 13 less batters than Scherzer, but only gave up two hits across six innings. Arrieta was also much more economical in his pitch-usage, as he threw just 75 pitches in six innings. Had the Phillies not been desperate for a run in the top of the seventh, which led to Gabe Kapler pinch-hitting for Arrieta, it's not unreasonable to think that Arrieta could have gone eight innings Sunday.
Phillies
- Odubel Herrera: 3-5, RBI
- Rhys Hoskins: 1-5, one RBI, three srikeouts
- Maikel Franco: 2-3, BB, HR, RBI
Nationals
- Matt Adams: 2-4, HR, two RBIs
- Bryce Harper: 0-4, one strikeout
- Anthony Rendon: 1-4, 2 RBIs
Bullpen
Phillies
- Edubray Ramos (seventh): 0.1 IP, zero hits
- Adam Morgan (seventh): 0.1 IP, one hit
- Luis Garcia (seventh, eighth): 0.2 IP, zero hits, one walk, two strikeouts, one earned run
- Tommy Hunter (eighth): 0.2 IP, two hits, one walk, two strikeouts, one earned run
- Hector Neris (ninth): 0.0 IP, two hits, two earned runs, two walks
Nationals
- Sammy Solis (seventh): 0.0 IP, one hit, one earned run
- Bradon Kintzler (seventh): 0.2 IP, two hits, one earned run, one strikeout
- Carlos Torres (eighth): 1.0 IP, one hit, one home run allowed, one earned run
- Sean Doolittle (ninth): 1.0 IP, zero hits, two strikeouts
What's Next
- Monday, May 7, 2018 vs. San Francisco Giants, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Zach Eflin (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 4.00 FIP) vs. RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-1, 5.27 ERA, 4.55 FIP)
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
