Blanco, Franco power Phillies past Nationals as Mackanin earns 100th career managerial victory

By: Matt Rappa, managing editor

Final: Phillies 4, Nationals 3 ❖ Attendance: 25,097

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Philadelphia Phillies (10-10) secured a series opener victory over right-hander Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals (14-5) thanks to clutch hitting from shortstop Andres Blanco and third baseman Maikel Franco Tuesday evening at Nationals Park.

In doing so, Pete Mackanin earned his 100th career managerial victory, as the Phillies evened their season record to 10 wins and 10 losses, going 5-5 both away and home at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies' offense was just 2-12 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight men on base. They were one hit shy of recording their fifth straight double-digit performance in hits. Overall, the team has won four of their last five games.

WP: Vince Velasquez (3-1, 1.78 ERA) ❖ LP: Oliver Perez (1-1, 3.00 ERA) ❖ SV: Jeanmar Gomez (5)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

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Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	9	1
WSN	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	7	0

The Phillies did not waste any time to take an early lead against Scherzer. Following a leadoff walk by center fielder Odubel Herrera, Blanco hit a two-run home run to center field, his first of the season.

National League batting leader — second baseman Daniel Murphy — began the bottom of the second with a double. He then advanced to third during the subsequent at-bat on a wild pitch by right-hander Vince Velasquez. After left fielder Jayson Werth struck out swinging, shortstop Danny Espinosa sacrificed to the right side of the mound to score Murphy, thus cutting the Nationals' deficit in half.

Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco preserved the Phillies' 2-1 lead an inning later in the latter-half of the third. With a runner on second and one out, third baseman Anthony Rendon hit a sharp grounder down the left field line. A diving stop from Franco, however, would prevent the runner in scoring position to advance two bags and tie the game.

The Phillies tacked on an insurance run in the top of the fourth inning. With runners on the corners and out out, second baseman Cesar Hernandez hit a RBI-single to left field, securing his sixth multi-hit game of the season.

Mackanin's squad threatened again in the fifth with two runners in scoring position and nobody out, but failed to score after Rendon gave Franco payback from robbing him of a RBI a couple of innings prior. Rendon secured the grounder, tagged Herrera out at third and threw across the diamond to first to complete a double play. First baseman Ryan Howard struck out for the final out of the inning, leaving one runner in scoring position.

The Nationals would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth, due in large part to a costly fielding mistake by Franco. With two runners on and two outs, Rendon hit a ground ball to third. Instead of turning the ball to second for the traditional 4-3 double play, Franco attempted to tag third base and throw over to first. He succeeded in getting the first out, but Rendon out-ran the throw to first to keep the inning alive.

Washington capitalized on the mistake, hitting back-to-back RBI-singles by right fielder Bryce Harper and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, their 24th and seventh RBIs of the season, respectively.

The Phillies threatened off Scherzer in the sixth with two runners on. Batting the starting pitcher, Velasquez, in the eighth position ultimately hurt the rally, however, as he had to sacrifice the runners over for the second out. Right fielder Peter Bourjos struck out for the final out, leaving two runners in scoring position.

Scherzer's night was complete after six innings on 116 pitches, 79 of which were thrown for strikes. The 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs on seven hits and four walks. His career ERA against the Phillies rose from 2.11 to 2.38 (14 earned runs, 53.0 innings pitched).

Facing former New York Mets southpaw Oliver Perez in the seventh, the Phillies would re-take the lead. After Blanco delivered with his third hit of the night — putting him a triple shy of the cycle — Franco hit a towering shot just short of going over the center field wall. Blanco came around to score, but a scary moment transpired for the Phillies as Franco pulled into second on a limp, his third double of the season. After head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan came out to examine the third baseman, Franco ultimately remained in the game.

Right-hander David Hernandez relieved Velasquez in the seventh. The Phillies starting pitcher allowed three runs on five hits and three walks spanning six innings of work. For his second consecutive outing, Velasquez struck out four opposing batters after retiring a combined 25 in his first two outings of the season.

With a runner on second and two outs in the inning, the Phillies intentionally walked Harper for the second time of the evening to bring up Zimmerman. The move paid off, as Hernandez struck out Zimmerman looking to preserve the 4-3 advantage heading to the eighth.

Phillies right-handers Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez threw scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to secure the series opener victory. Gomez is now 5-5 in save opportunities this season.

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