Phillies Open 6-Game Road Trip Opposite Roark, Nationals

Matt Rappa

August 21 2018

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Having lost two straight games, the Philadelphia Phillies (68-56) and RHP Vince Velasquez will open a six-game road trip against RHP Tanner Roark and the Washington Nationals (62-63) Tuesday evening at Nationals Park. The Phillies will face the Nationals in nine of their remaining 38 games.

Read: Nationals Deal Adams, Murphy, Retain Harper on Revocable Waivers

The Phillies fell 8-2 against the New York Mets in Sunday's nationally-televised MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. First baseman Carlos Santana extended his hit streak to five games and accounted for all the Phillies' offense with a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Santana fielded two innings at the hot corner in the loss, a position he last and only played 26 times with the Cleveland Indians in 2014. Starter Nick Pivetta yielded six runs on eight hits in just 3 2/3 innings on the mound.

The Phillies have split their first 48 games against National League East opponents this season, and are just one game over .500 through 29 games since last month's All-Star break.

Starting Pitching Matchup:

Philadelphia Phillies (68-56)			Washington Nationals (62-63)
RHP	Vince Velasquez		RHP	Tanner Roark
RHP	(8-9, 4.13 ERA)		RHP	(8-12, 4.13 ERA)

RHP Vince Velasquez, Age: 26

2018 vs. WSN: 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, HR, 5 BB, 7 SO, 1.286 WHIP
Career vs. WSN: 2-2, 5.28 ERA, 6 G, 6 GS, 29 IP, 26 H, 18 R, 17 ER, 5 HR, 14 BB, 34 SO, 1.379 WHIP
Career at Nationals Park: 2-0, 3.38 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 16 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, HR, 10 BB, 13 SO, 1.313 WHIP

Velasquez has thrown just 6 1/3 innings over his last two starts, allowing a combined 10 hits, seven runs and six walks. Since the All-Star break, the right-hander is 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA, 23-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.364 WHIP through 25 2/3 innings.

RHP Tanner Roark, Age: 31

2018 vs. PHI: 0-3, 5.40 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 16 2/3 IP, 20 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 21 SO, 1.800 WHIP
Career vs. PHI: 6-9, 4.18 ERA, 20 G, 18 GS, 107 2/3 IP, 104 H, 53 R, 50 ER, 9 HR, 34 BB, 94 SO, 1.282 WHIP
Career at Nationals Park: 31-25, 3.63 ERA, 85 G, 64 GS, 429 1/3 IP, 402 H, 185 R, 173 ER, 46 HR, 128 BB, 354 SO, 1.234 WHIP

Despite leading the National League with 12 losses, Roark has won each of his last five starts since July 25 with a combined 1.77 ERA, 0.925 WHIP and 28-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio spanning 35 2/3 innings. The six-year veteran has lost each of his three starts against the Phillies this season, with Phillies batters slashing .308/.403/.492 with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 walks and 11 runs scored.

Starting Lineups:

Philadelphia Phillies (68-56)				Washington Nationals (62-63)
	Position	Player	Bats		Position	Player	Bats
1	2B	Cesar Hernandez	S	1	RF	Adam Eaton	L
2	LF	Rhys Hoskins	R	2	SS	Trea Turner	R
3	SS	Asdrubal Cabrera	S	3	CF	Bryce Harper	L
4	1B	Carlos Santana	S	4	3B	Anthony Rendon	R
5	3B	Maikel Franco	R	5	LF	Juan Soto	L
6	CF	Odubel Herrera	L	6	1B	Ryan Zimmerman	R
7	C	Jorge Alfaro	R	7	C	Matt Wieters	S
8	P	Vince Velasquez	R	8	P	Tanner Roark	R
9	RF	Roman Quinn	S	9	2B	Wilmer Difo	S

Broadcast Information:

First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
TV: NBCSP
Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP

Game Notes:

The Phillies, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals are in a three-way tie for the second National League Wild Card spot, all trailing the leading Milwaukee Brewers by a half game.
The Phillies have won six of 10 meetings against the Nationals this season, despite both clubs producing the same amount of combined runs (51) and hits (90) against each other.

Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera is 15-36 opposite Roark all-time, with five doubles, one home run, six RBI, three walks, five strikeouts and three hit-by-pitches (.417/.500/.639). Nationals shortstop Trea Turner is hitless in 11 career plate appearances against Velasquez with a RBI, five strikeouts and sacrifice fly (.000/.000/.000) (click to expand).