Werth's RBI double helped seal the deal for the Nationals in their three-run eighth inning.
The Phillies needed another strong outing from Cole Hamels Sunday, and the veteran lefthander did his part over seven solid innings. However, Washington ace Stephen Strasburg was just as good over his seven innings of work, and the Nationals managed to score runs in the third and eighth
Coming off an excellent, eight-inning outing against the Mets in his last start, Hamels (6-6) was in control early, striking out three of the first six Nationals batters and retiring the first seven Washington batters in order. With one out in the third, Jose Lobaton reached on a fielding error by Cody Asche at third, and came around to score when Denard Span lined a ball into shallow center field, giving the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
One could tell early on that this was the kind of game where a single run might be the difference the way the two starters were pitching, and it was all Strasburg (8-9) needed. The young righty was dialed in from the first pitch, striking out two in each of the first two innings and simply overpowering the Phillies for the better part of the afternoon. The Phillies got a runner as far as second base with two outs four times, but couldn’t make anything of it. Strasburg struck out two in the seventh, his fourth two-strikeout inning, and left after throwing 99 pitches, having allowed three hits and a walk with ten strikeouts in his seven innings of work.
Hamels recovered nicely after the third, allowing just four baserunners in the next four innings while keeping the Nationals off the board. Despite throwing just 86 pitches, Hamels was pinch hit for in the top of the eighth, bringing his afternoon to an end. He allowed just four hits and a walk with six strikeouts, and threw 66 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
Tyler Clippard retired the Phillies in order in the eighth, picking up a pair of strikeouts along the way. Ken Giles came in for the bottom of the inning and struggled mightily with his control. Span led off with a walk before Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth lined consecutive doubles to deep centerfield. Giles intentionally walked Adam LaRoche to get to Ian Desmond, who struck out swinging, and was pulled in favor of Jake Diekman. Werth and LaRoche advanced on a passed ball by Wil Nieves, and Werth scored when Diekman uncorked a wild pitch.
Diekman recovered to strike out the next two batters, but the damage was done as the Nationals took a 4-0 lead heading into the ninth. Rafael Soriano came in to close things out for Washington, and struck out Ryan Howard for the final out to complete the shutout.
Notable Statistics:
Cole Hamels: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 6 K
Cody Asche: 2-3
Ryan Howard: 0-4
Impact:
It’s easy to say that the offense let Hamels down as usual, and he certainly deserved better for his strong performance, but there’s no shame in losing to a guy like Strasburg, who was on point all afternoon. He wasn’t as efficient as Cole Hamels, throwing 68 of 99 pitches for strikes, but still had good stuff and good control of his pitches, and kept the Phillies off-balance over his seven innings. The start gives him a 2.45 ERA in four starts (2-0 record) against the Phillies this season, with 35 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. I thought it strange that Hamels was pulled after throwing only 86 pitches. While runs were at a premium in this game, pinch hitting Reid Brignac for Hamels didn’t seem like much of an upgrade, and the two relievers that came on upon Hamels departure combined to allow three runs before getting two outs in the eighth. Hindsight is always 20-20, of course, and whether the Nationals scored three or no runs in the eighth was of little consequence since the Phillies had no answer for Washington’s pitching, who shut the Phillies out for the second straight night. LaRoche, who walked in the sixth, was just the second batter that Hamels has walked since the All-Star break. Howard finishes the Phillies road trip with just one hit in 25 at-bats. Giles, who allowed two hits, two walks, and three runs while recording just one out, saw his ERA balloon from 0.87 to 2.41 as a result of the outing.
Up Next:
The Phillies will take Monday off before starting a seven game home stand Tuesday. The Houston Astros come to town for a four-game set, with Dallas Keuchel (10-7, 2.97 ERA) taking the mound against Kyle Kendrick (5-11, 4.92) in the series opener. Keuchel has had a breakout season for the lowly Astros, and was impressive in his last start, a four-hit complete game against the high-powered Oakland A’s. Kendrick comes off a rough outing in which he allowed four runs in six innings before the Mets teed off against the Phillies bullpen in an 11-2 romp.
