Final (11): Nationals 8, Phillies 7
WP: Jonathan Papelbon (4-2, 1.99) LP: Luis Garcia (3-5, 3.75) S: Doug Fister (1)
Philadelphia, PA–If the Phillies lose, but no one is there to see it, does it still count?
Such was the case on Monday night, as the Eagles' season opener drew fans away from Citizens Bank Park in droves to the comfort of their TV sets to watch the football team's 26-24 against Atlanta to begin their season.
In a game quite similar to the Eagles' loss, several thousand fervent fans were on hand to boo Jonathan Papelbon into blowing a save in the tenth inning, though the former Phillies closer picked up the win for Washington (73-70).
Tonight's game inspired flashbacks to the Baltimore Orioles game played in front of an empty Camden Yards due to citywide protests earlier this season, the Phillies (56-89) enjoyed more early success than the highly touted Eagles, scoring six runs against Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann to tie the game 6-6 in the sixth inning (whereas the Birds trailed the Falcons 20-3 at halftime). Their long, arduous game lasted 11 innings but ended when the Nationals pushed ahead a run in the top of the 11th for which the Phillies had no answer. The Phillies fell in the first game of this series, 8-7.
The game did not get off to a good start, as Anthony Rendon homered against Aaron Nola on the first pitch of the game for the Nationals (72-71). It took two innings for the Phillies to tie up the game, as Ryan Howard hit his second home run in the last two days, a liner to deep right.
Bryce Harper continued the home run duel with a solo shot in the third, the 37th on the year for the NL MVP candidate. The Phils again tied it with an infield single from Freddy Galvis in the bottom of the frame, bringing up Cameron Rupp to make it 2-2.
Phillies archnemesis Jayson Werth delivered again for the Nats with the bases loaded in the fifth, mashing a huge grand slam for Washington and putting them up 6-2.
The seesaw game equalized again in the sixth, after Darnell Sweeney drove home a run on a single to right with one out. Cody Asche followed Sweeney with a three-run shot against Zimmermann to tie the game at 6, where it stayed through the end of the seventh.
Cameron Rupp caught pinch runner Trea Turner stealing second with one out in the top of the eighth (the Nationals challenged, but the call was upheld). Jerome Williams, pitching in relief since he was moved to the bullpen a few weeks ago, pitched a solid frame and escaped scoreless.
Ryan Howard left in the top of the eighth with a left knee contusion, as announced in the bottom of the eighth. He was replaced by Darin Ruf at first base.
Jeanmar Gomez entered in the top of the ninth in the tie game, rather than Ken Giles as conventional baseball wisdom might indicate (Giles pitched on both Saturday and Sunday, so he was likely given the night off to recuperate.) Gomez punched out Matt den Dekker, but Anthony Rendon singled with one out. Gomez induced a 6-3 double play off the bat of Yunel Escobar, ending the top half of the ninth.
Casey Janssen and Felipe Rivero shut down the Phillies by striking out the side (Rivero took over to get Odubel Herrera for the third out) in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game into extras.
Reliever Dalier Hinojosa doubled his 0.64 ERA with the Phillies, entering in the tenth and giving up a one-out solo shot to Jayson Werth, Werth's second of the night. Hinojosa allowed two consecutive hits, to Clint Robinson and Ian Desmond, but struck out Jose Lobaton and got Michael Taylor to ground out to end the top of the tenth.
On came Jonathan Papelbon, to save the game against the Phillies. Or, more accurately, to blow his first save of the year by allowing a solo shot to Freddy Galvis with no outs, tying the game 7-7. After he called out certain Phils players by saying today he was one of the few Phillies who really wanted to win, the blown save certainly was music to the ears of the hundreds of fans left at Citizens Bank Park.
Papelbon continued his less-than-stellar outing by striking out plunking Aaron Altherr, before Ruf reached on an error by Ian Desmond at short. He recovered to get Jeff Francoeur to fly out (Bryce Harper made an excellent catch near foul territory along the right-field line) and Cody Asche to ground out to move the game to the 11th.
Luis Garcia, the sixth Phillies reliever tonight, began the inning by walking Danny Espinosa, who advanced to second on a passed ball. Anthony Rendon, 4 for 6 on the night, singled to short to put runners on the corners with no outs. The next batter, Yunel Escobar, reached on a fielder's choice when Andres Blanco's throw home went between the legs of catcher Cameron Rupp, allowing Espinosa to score the go-ahead run. Adam Loewen, the seventh reliever for the home team, entered the game, getting Bryce Harper to ground into a force out at second. Werth, up again, grounded into a double play to close the top of the 11th, and give the Phillies another chance to tie the game.
The Nats turned to starter Doug Fister in the bottom of the 11th, having exhausted seven different relievers already. Fister walked Rupp, but got Blanco to strike out swinging for the first out and Herrera on three pitches for the second out. Freddy Galvis' lineout to left ended the game, mercifully, as Fister picked up his first save.
The Phils are back at it tomorrow evening at 7:05, with Stephen Strasburg of the Nats taking on David Buchanan. Hopefully the Phillies can muster up a good crowd of about 15,000, what with the Eagles not playing.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Zimmermann | 6.0 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 3.51 |
| Aaron Nola | 5.0 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 4.11 |
- Zimmermann: No-decision; 94 pitches, 63 strikes; 5 groundouts, 1 flyouts; 27 faced batters
- Nola: No-decision; 79 pitches, 58 strikes; 3 groundouts, 2 flyouts; 24 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Nationals
- Matt Thornton (7th) : 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.43 ERA
- Rafael Martin (7th) : 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.34 ERA
- Blake Treinen (8th) : 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 5.19 ERA
- Casey Janssen (9th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 5.05 ERA
- Felipe Rivero (9th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.10 ERA
- Jonathan Papelbon (10th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.03 ERA
- Doug Fister (11th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.45 ERA
Phillies
- Justin De Fratus (6th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 5.67 ERA
- Hector Neris (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
- Jerome Williams (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 5.82 ERA
- Jeanmar Gomez (9th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.94 ERA
- Dalier Hinojosa (10th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 1.29 ERA
- Luis Garcia (11th): 0.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.75 ERA
- Adam Loewen (11th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 7.90 ERA
At the Plate:
Nationals
- Jayson Werth: 2-6, 2 HR, GS, 5 RBI, .229 AVG
- Bryce Harper: 2-5, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB, .333 AVG
- Anthony Rendon: 4-6, R, HR, RBI, .287 AVG
Phillies
- Cody Asche: 1-5, HR, R, 3 RBI, .245 AVG
- Ryan Howard: 1-3, HR, RBI, .229 AVG
- Darnell Sweeney: 1-3, BB, R, RBI, .200 AVG
What's Next
- Tuesday, September 15: vs. Washington Nationals, 7:05 pm
- RHP Stephen Strasburg (8-7, 4.30 ERA) vs. RHP David Buchanan (2-8, 9.11 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Theo DeRosa (@Derosatheo11) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
