After a strong first inning, Ethan Martin pitched himself into and out of trouble until being chased with two outs in the 5th inning after losing all command and allowing five runs. While he still shows plenty of upside and the starter/reliever debate is boiling, the real question now has to do with if Martin is major league ready or not yet. At the moment though there really isn't any other options.
The fans were then treated to the major league debut of southpaw reliever Mauricio Robles who recorded his first strike out but also recorded his first balk and allowed hit first walk, hits, and ultimately runs.
Offense came in the 4th with a two RBI single from Asche. In the 6th, the Nationals errored and wild pitched themselves into a three run inning including timeley hits from Michael Martinez and Chase Utley. This ultimately chased Gio Gonzalez out of the game with only one earned run.
Cody Asche would close the gap in teh 8th with a solo blast and the Phillies put up a nice effort at the plate and took advantage of some bad play, it wasn't to be. Wilson Ramos and Corey Brown of the Nationals got their key hits as did Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond in the 9-6 loss.
Tough night though for the Phillies pitching staff. They walked nine batters which is pretty incredible in itself. The game all around was really sloppy and while bad baseball is better than no baseball in my opinion, that was really put to the test tonight.
Tomorrow night Roy Halladay looks to improve on a tough outing in Wrigley on Friday against Jordan Zimmerman in the rubber match at 7:05
