Sean O'Sullivan and the Phillies couldn't climb out of an early 3-0 hole and lost their sixth straight tonight to the Nationals by a score of 7-2. The Phils offense failed to get anything going against Max Scherzer while the home run ball plagued Phillies starting pitching yet again.
How they scored:
The Nationals jumped on Sean O'Sullivan early on tonight. Yunel Escobar singled to lead off the first and then Ian Desmond got hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Bryce Harper launched a three-run home run to center field, giving the Nationals a 3-0 lead. In the fourth, Danny Espinosa took O'Sullivan deep for a solo home run, bringing the Nats lead back to three at 4-1. Ryan Ziummerman's two-run double in the seventh made it a 6-1 game and Wilson Ramos hit an RBI-single one batter later to make it 7-1.
The Phillies got a run back in the third thanks in large part to Odubel Herrera's one-out triple. Freddy Galvis drove him in with an RBI-groundout to cut the lead to two. The Phillies got some men on base in the ninth, but only managed one run via Ryan Howard's RBI-single.
Starter's Report:
Sean O'Sullivan, in his second start of the season, didn't have as much luck against the Nationals this time around, giving up four runs on five hits over five innings. The big blow came early on, as Bryce Harper hit a three-run homer to give the Nationals an early 3-0 lead. His ERA now stands at 4.91 on the season.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer dominated the Phillies, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out nine in eight innings.
Out of the Pen:
Jeanmar Gomez took over for O'Sullivan in the sixth and threw 1.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out two. Jake Diekman relieved Gomez to get the final out in the seventh, but walked a batter before giving up a two-run double to Ryan Zimmerman and an RBI-single to Wilson Ramos. Diekman's ERA stands at 14.73 on the year. Yikes. Ken Giles took the hill for the eighth and allowed two hits but also struck out two. His fastball hit 97mph, but most of them hung around 95mph. It seemed liked his sliders were well up in the zone, but the Nationals still couldn't hit them.
Felipe Rivero pitched the ninth for the Nationals and gave up one run on three hits.
At the Plate:
The Phillies got one run on five hits tonight, with two hits coming off the bat of Odubel Herrera, who raised his average to .257 on the year after struggling over the first week. The 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup, Utley, Francoeur and Asche, went a combined 1-for-11 with four strikeouts. Ryan Howard's struggles continued as well, but he did drive in a run in the ninth inning. He struck out twice as well. Carlos Ruiz and Darin Ruf both got hits tonight in their four at-bats.
Post-Game Thoughts:
Business as usual for the Phillies here. If they were going to have any chance against Scherzer, O'Sullivan was going to need to be sharp as well, but he had some trouble with command, leaving a few balls up in the zone. The last turn in the rotation for the Phillies has been dreadful, but the offense hasn't done anything to provide much support. Tonight, the offense sure didn't help out again, unable to get anything going against the 2013 Cy Young Award winner. Nothing I didn't expect during tonight's matchup, but it was good to see Odubel Herrera continue to get comfortable at the plate. He's going to be fun to watch this year.
Up Next:
Saturday afternoon at 1:05, the Phillies look to bounce back behind their best starter so far this year, Aaron Harang (1-1, 0.73 ERA). The Nationals will counter with Jordan Zimmermann (1-1, 8.64 ERA)
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
