The Phillies (24-31) depart Philadelphia after a 4-7 homestand that dropped them 6.5 games out of first. Enduring their worst start since 2002, the Phils hope that this road trip will be what they need to rejuvenate their season. It won't be an easy task with the Nationals (27-28) and Reds, who boast tough pitching matchups for the offensively inconsistent Phillies. Up first is the Nats, who are going through some tough times of their own, losing six of their last nine, but are coming off of a series victory against the Rangers. Though the Phils took two out of three from the Nats at home in early May, it looks like they will see Jordan Zimmerman tonight, Strasburg tomorrow and Doug Fister on Thursday. Worried? Me too. After the Mets put a hurting on the Phillies to end their homestand, Chase Utley said they need to improve in every aspect of the game. (via CSNPhilly.com)
“We didn’t play well in this homestand,” Utley said. “I think that’s pretty obvious. We need to get better at everything. We can pitch better, we can play better defense, we can swing the bats better.”
While the Nationals will send out three stud pitchers to the hill over the series, the Phillies call upon rookie David Buchanan (1-1, 3.86) to start game one. Just two starts into his rookie season, Bunhanan has shown that he can definitely be effective enough to keep the Phillies in games, but at this point, that may not be good enough. With a tired bullpen, Ryne Sandberg will be looking for at least seven innings out of the Phils righty. Buchanan took the loss in his last outing against the Mets on May 29th after pitching 6.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He struck out two and walked two as well. He went five innings and gave up two runs in a 5-2 Phillies win against the Dodgers on May 24th.
The Nationals will go with right-hander, Jordan Zimmermann (3-2, 4.07), to start the series. Zimmermann has given up 15 runs in 22.2 innings over his last four outings, good for a 5.96 ERA. Zimmermann faced the Phillies last in September of 2013, in an 11-2 Nationals victory. He threw seven innings of two-run ball and struck out seven. He went 2-1 against the Phillies last season, giving up just six runs over 20.1 innings of work with 14 strikeouts. Zimmermann's last solid outing was cut short at the beginning of May, when he threw four shutout innings against the Dodgers before rain shortened his start. In his last full start, he pitched 6.1 innings of shutout baseball against Houston in a 7-0 Nats victory.
Game Notes:
- As a team, the Phillies own a career .315 average against Zimmermann, despite only scoring six runs against him last season.
- Domonic Brown is hitting .556 against the Nats righty in nine at bats while Chase Utley holds a .308 average.
- Jimmy Rollins (.200), Marlon Byrd (.182) and Ryan Howard (.250) have not fared as well against Zimmermann.
- The Phillies took two out of three from the Nats in early May. They dropped game one, 5-3, before taking games two and three, 7-2 and 1-0 respectively.
- The Nationals Ryan Zimmerman returns from the DL today and will play left field, not third base.
Phillies Lineup:
- Jimmy Rollins (S) SS
- Chase Utley (L) 2B
- Marlon Byrd (R) RF
- Ryan Howard (L) 1B
- Carlos Ruiz (R) C
- Domonic Brown (L) LF
- Reid Brignac (L) 3B
- Ben Revere (L) CF
- David Buchanan (R) P
Nationals Lineup:
- Denard Span (L) CF
- Anthony Rendon (R) 3B
- Jayson Werth (R) RF
- Adam LaRoche (L) 1B
- Ryan Zimmerman (R) LF
- Wilson Ramos (R) C
- Ian Desmond (R) SS
- Danny Espinosa (S) 2B
- Jordan Zimmermann (R) P
Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
Weather: 80° F – Partly Cloudy – 27% PoP
Game Time: 7:05 PM Eastern
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ApterShock
