Tonight the Phillies sent Cliff Lee to the hill to face divisional rival, Washington Nationals. Cliff Lee entered the game 3-2 with a 3.29 ERA in six starts. Lee was opposed by Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg was 2-2 with 4.24 ERA heading into the night.
The Game: The Phillies got things going with a bang tonight. With two outs, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard singled to put runners on first and third. Then with Marlon Byrd at the plate he hit a foul ball that Jayson Werth missed to give him in life. Byrd took advantage of this hitting an opposite field blast to put the Phillies ahead. 3-0 Phillies
Nationals struck back in the third with a solo shot by Tyler Moore. 3-1 Phillies
The fifth inning turned into an eventful one for both teams. In the top of the inning, Tyler Moore lead off with a single. Jose Lobaton when reached on an error by Chase Utley. Stephen Strasburg then bunted them over. With a Denard Span up that the plate, he called time, but Cliff Lee still threw the ball inside. This surprised Span. After Span hit an RBI ground out, he approach Cliff Lee and it cleared the bases. 3-2 Phillies
The top eighth inning was one the Phillies would like to forget. With a 3-2 lead Mike Adams allowed three straight hits to load the bases without recording an out. Jake Diekman replaced him and allowed three runs to score all charged to Adams. 5-3 Nationals
Rafael Soriano can in the bottom of the ninth against the bottom of the Phillies order to close out the game. Ruiz walked, but Cody Asche hit a ground ball to second and that the Nationals got the force at second but over threw first base. Asche was out too because Ruiz slide late into second base. Freddy Galvis then popped out to end the game. 5-3 Nationals Final
Antonio Bastardo also appeared for the Phillies in the ninth inning.
Notable Offensive Performances:
Chase Utley: 2-4, R
Marlon Byrd: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Cody Asche 2-4 2B
Impact: The bullpen imploded again the eighth inning. Over the years this continues to be a problem for the Phillies. This time is was Mike Adams and Jake Diekman. I don’t put as much of this on Diekman because he had bases loaded and no outs to deal with, but needs to stop. If the Phillies expect to compete this season they need to fix this ASAP. This may force the Phillies to call up Ken Giles sooner then they want or have Shawn Camp take up a larger in the Phillies bullpen.
Up Next: Tomorrow the Phillies continue the series against the Washington Nationals, as they will face Tanner Roark. Roark has never faced the Phillies, but is having a good year going 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA in five games. The Phillies will counter with A.J. Burnett who has the best numbers for the Phillies going 1-1 with a 2.15 ERA on the season and has continued to improve since shortening his stride to home plate.
Andrew Shipotofsky is writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Ashipotofsky
