By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The 2019 Philadelphia Phillies (4-0) season just keeps getting better.
Making his return to Nationals Park — for the first time since signing his 13-year contract with the Phillies — Bryce Harper simply did what he does best in the club's 8-2 rout, despite receiving a negative welcome from the Washington, D.C., crowd. While Harper struggled early, striking out twice against Washington Nationals (1-3) ace RHP Max Scherzer, he connected over his last three at-bats, producing a double, RBI single, and a second-deck, two-run home run.
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Harper became just the fifth player to hit a home run in his first road game against a former team, after winning an MVP with that team, in the last 35 years, notes Elias Sports, joining Vladimir Guerrero, Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez.
Scherzer fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2009, while Wednesday afternoon, fellow Phillies ace Aaron Nola can improve to 2-0 in the last of a two-game set opposite veteran RHP Anibal Sanchez in his Nationals debut. The Phillies will feature the same lineup as the first four games; they never used the same lineup more than five times all of last season.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies (4-0) | Washington Nationals (1-3) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Aaron Nola | RHP | Anibal Sanchez | ||
| (2019: 1-0, 1.50 ERA) | (2018: 7-6, 2.83 ERA) | ||||
RHP Aaron Nola, Age: 25
- Career vs. WSN: 4-5, 3.59 ERA, 15 G, 15 GS, 87 2/3 IP, 85 H, 37 R, 35 ER, 9 HR, 22 BB, 100 SO, 1.221 WHIP
- Career at Nationals Park: 2-1, 2.03 ERA, 7 G, 7 GS, 40 IP, 37 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 43 SO, 1.125 WHIP
While Nola walked a career-high five batters on Opening Day, he earned the win, nonetheless, against the Atlanta Braves, striking out eight of his 23 batters faced while allowing just two hits and one run. As NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman notes, the Phillies' 10 runs to support Nola matched their highest output in a Nola game in his last 60 starts.
The right-hander won three of his five starts against the Nationals last season; at Nationals Park, he went 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 0.929 WHIP, allowing only two runs over two starts and 14 innings, while punching out 14 batters.
RHP Anibal Sanchez, Age: 35
- Career vs. PHI: 5-9, 4.50 ERA, 20 G, 20 GS, 110 IP, 106 H, 62 R, 55 ER, 12 HR, 54 BB, 94 SO, 1.455 WHIP
- Career at Nationals Park: 4-1, 2.11 ERA, 10 G, 10 GS, 59 2/3 IP, 48 H, 17 R, 14 ER, 6 HR, 16 BB, 56 SO, 1.073 WHIP
Through Sanchez's now 14-year career, only one other team than the Phillies (9) have handed him more losing decisions — the Atlanta Braves (11). Last season as a Brave, Sanchez returned to the National League for the first time since 2006-12 (Florida/Miami Marlins), after a five-plus seasons with the Detroit Tigers. The right-hander went 7-6 with a career second-best 2.83 ERA, a career-best 1.083 WHIP, along with a 135-42 strikeout-to-walk ratio spanning 24 starts, one relief appearance and 136 2/3 innings.
Sanchez made two starts against the Phillies in 2018; he allowed only one run — a solo home run to Scott Kingery — over 11 innings, seven hits and three walks allowed, while striking out eight of his 42 batters faced. Phillies batters slashed just .184/.244/.289.
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies (4-0) | Washington Nationals (1-3) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Andrew McCutchen | R | 1 | RF | Adam Eaton | L |
| 2 | SS | Jean Segura | R | 2 | 2B | Brian Dozier | R |
| 3 | RF | Bryce Harper | L | 3 | 3B | Anthony Rendon | R |
| 4 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins | R | 4 | LF | Juan Soto | L |
| 5 | C | J.T. Realmuto | R | 5 | 1B | Ryan Zimmerman | R |
| 6 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 6 | C | Kurt Suzuki | R |
| 7 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S | 7 | SS | Wilmer Difo | S |
| 8 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 8 | P | Anibal Sanchez | R |
| 9 | P | Aaron Nola | R | 9 | CF | Victor Robles | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- The Phillies are on their third-ever 4-0 start to the season — their first since their first-ever National League pennant and World Series appearance season in 1915.
- Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco is off to a MVP-caliber start; he has the most IBB (5), and the best batting average (.545), OBP (.706), SLG (1.364), and OPS (2.070) in MLB. Franco had 19 IBB in 2,111 career PA from 2014-2018. This season, he has 5 IBB in just 17 PA.
- Injured Nats:
- Not only did the Nationals fall to 1-3 on the season on Tuesday, they lost shortstop Trea Turner for a decent amount of time due to a broken right index finger. He suffered the injury when attempting to bunt in the bottom of the first.
- First baseman Matt Adams was removed from the game due to back spasms and will likely be sidelined day to day. He tumbled over the railing down the first base line while chasing a foul ball and was replaced by Zimmerman.
- The potent Phillies' offense so far in 2019: 33 innings, 31 runs, 35 hits, 24 walks, 10 home runs.
What's Next:
- Friday, April 5, 2019: vs. Minnesota Twins, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa.
- RHP Jake Odorizzi (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Pivetta (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
- TV: NBC10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
