By: Nick Mandarano, contributor 
PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies were playing solid baseball entering this series against the Washington Nationals. They had won four of five games and the previous two series. Now, Philadelphia will take the field today looking to avoid a sweep against the division leaders.
Scoring runs has been a struggle for the Phillies this season. Their 2.58 runs per game ranks them last in the National League and 29th in all of baseball. The Phillies are also in Major League Baseball's bottom five in batting average (.207), on-base percentage (.267), OPS (.619) and runs batted in (28).
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Washington Nationals (9-1) | Philadelphia Phillies (5-7) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Gio Gonzalez | RHP | Charlie Morton | ||
| (0-0, 0.00 ERA) | (1-1, 5.23 ERA) | ||||
Gio Gonzalez — Age: 30;
- Last Appearance: April 12, 2016, vs ATL: ND, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO
- Career vs. PHI: (8-5), 16 G, 98.1 IP, 86 H, 38 R, 31 BB, 98 SO, 7 HR, 3.02 ERA
Gonzalez pitched six shutout innings against the Braves in his last time out. He faced 23 hitters and threw a first-pitch strike to 18 of them. After averaging 3.5 walks per start last year, Gonzalez has yet to walk a batter in 2016. He has a 64% strike rate this season, so the Phillies better be ready to swing.
The Phillies' top three hitters are a combined 11-39 (.282) in their careers against Gonzalez. Most of the hitters in the starting lineup have seen Gonzalez more than a few times, but Darin Ruf seems to have found the most success against him. Ruf is a lifetime 8-23 (.348) against Gonzalez and will be batting fourth for the Phillies.
Charlie Morton — Age: 32;
- Last Appearance: April 12, 2016, vs SDP: W, 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 SO
- Career vs. WAS: (2-4), 7 G, 31.1 IP, 43 H, 29 R, 25 ER, 15 BB, 17 SO, 7 HR, 7.18 ERA
Morton threw 66 two-seam fastballs in his last outing and induced a swing and a miss on 10 of them. After a dreadful first start, Morton was able to cut his ERA to a third of what it was with 6.2 shutout innings. For Morton, it's usually a struggle against the Nationals as evidenced by his career 7.18 ERA in seven career games against the team. The Phillies, however, are hoping that he can ride his momentum from his last start into this afternoon.
Starting Lineups:
| Washington Nationals (9-1) | Philadelphia Phillies (5-7) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | SS | Michael Taylor | R | 1 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 2 | 2B | Anthony Rendon | R | 2 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 3 | 1B | Bryce Harper | L | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | DH | Ryan Zimmerman | R | 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 5 | C | Daniel Murphy | L | 5 | 1B | Darin Ruf | R |
| 6 | LF | Jayson Werth | R | 6 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 7 | CF | Wilson Ramos | R | 7 | RF | Peter Bourjos | R |
| 8 | SS | Danny Espinosa | S | 8 | LF | Tyler Goeddel | R |
| 9 | RF | Gio Gonzalez | R | 9 | P | Charlie Morton | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:35 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Odubel Herrera has walked six times in his last three games and 11 times overall this season. Herrera trails only Jose Bautista and Gregory Polanco in walks. In 2015, it took Herrera until August 4th to draw his 11th walk of the season.
- The last time the Phillies were swept at Citizens Bank Park was September 14-16, 2015 by the Washington Nationals.
- Bryce Harper currently has a five-game home run streak at Citizens Bank Park. He's just the fourth visiting player to reach such a streak, with the most recent being Matt Stairs (2004-07). Ernie Banks is the only player ever to extend his streak to six games.
What's Next:
- Monday, March 18, 2016: vs. New York Mets, 7:05 p.m.
- City game will be played in – Stadium name
- RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-0, 0.69) vs. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (1-1, 1.50)
- TV: TCN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
