The Philadelphia Phillies (3-2) will look for the series sweep against the World Series favorite, and division rival, Washington Nationals (1-4) in the first Sunday afternoon matinee of the season.
Both games so far this series have been surprise, come-from-behind victories for the Phillies. Friday evening, trailing 1-0 in the seventh, the Phillies rallied to score four runs, which gave Washington their third loss of the season.
Saturday night's game, which featured a much-improved Cole Hamels from his Opening Day outing, also ended in exciting fashion. Center fielder Odubel Herrera earned his first major league hit, a double, which brought home catcher Carlos Ruiz in the bottom of the tenth to secure the walk-off victory.
Since the Nationals franchise moved from Montreal, Canada to Washington D.C. in 2005, the Phillies have 108 wins and 78 losses against them, and are 60-34 at home. Over the past three seasons including yesterday, however, they are one game under .500, 28-29, against their National League East division opponent.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Washington Nationals (1-4) | Philadelphia Phillies (3-2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Max Scherzer | RHP | Sean O'Sullivan | ||
| (0-1, 0.00 ERA) | 2014: (0-1, 6.39 ERA) | ||||
With Sean O'Sullivan starting this afternoon for the Phillies, making his 2015 regular season debut as the unofficial fifth starter, he will look to even the record between the Nationals and Phillies since 2012 at 29 wins a piece. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, LHP Cesar Jimenez was designated for assignment.
O'Sullivan, who allowed nine earned runs on 15 hits and two walks in 12.2 innings last season, will oppose 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner and two-time All-Star, Max Scherzer.
Scherzer, 30, has two career starts against the Phillies. The first, ironically, was the first start of his career. On May 5, 2008, as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the right hander allowed five earned runs on eight hits and two walks in just four innings, well en-route to a losing decision.
| Split | W | L | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | WP | BF | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interleague | 10 | 7 | .588 | 3.08 | 20 | 20 | 119.2 | 101 | 52 | 41 | 10 | 43 | 2 | 155 | 3 | 4 | 500 | 1.203 | 11.7 | 3.60 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 1 | .500 | 4.50 | 2 | 2 | 10.0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 1.100 | 10.8 | 6.00 |
The next time the St. Louis, Missouri-native took the mound against the Phillies was 1,909 days later on July 27, 2013. This game was a "complete 180" from his rookie start against them. Scherzer threw six shutout innings, allowing just one hit as Detroit routed Philadelphia, 10-0.
Below is a table displaying statistics of current Phillies who have faced Scherzer in the past. Ben Revere has had the most success, batting 5-for-15 (0.333), with one triple.
(* denotes player in today's starting lineup).
| Batter | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andres Blanco | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 0.500 | 1.167 |
| Jordan Danks | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.200 | 0.273 | 0.200 | 0.473 |
| Jeff Francoeur* | 30 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0.233 | 0.233 | 0.467 | 0.700 |
| Ryan Howard* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.333 | 0.000 | 0.333 |
| Ben Revere* | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.467 | 0.800 |
| Darin Ruf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
| Carlos Ruiz | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 |
| Grady Sizemore | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.071 | 0.188 | 0.071 | 0.259 |
| Chase Utley | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.400 | 0.500 | 0.900 |
| Totals | 80 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 0.238 | 0.287 | 0.375 | 0.662 |
Over 30 career at-bats, outfielder Jeff Francoeur has shown power against Scherzer. He has two doubles, a triple, a home run, and two runs batted in to his credit. Most of these at-bats came when Francoeur was a member of the Kansas City Royals from the outlook of the 2011 season, up to July 5, 2013.
On January 22, 2015, the Nationals signed Scherzer to a rather complex contract, largely centered around being worth $210 million over seven years. Today will be his first career start at Citizens Bank Park.
Starting Lineups:
| Washington Nationals (1-4) | Philadelphia Phillies (3-2) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 8 | Michael Taylor | R | 1 | 7 | Ben Revere | L |
| 2 | 5 | Yunel Escobar | R | 2 | 6 | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | 9 | Bryce Harper | L | 3 | 5 | Cody Asche | L |
| 4 | 3 | Ryan Zimmerman | R | 4 | 3 | Ryan Howard | L |
| 5 | 7 | Clint Robinson | L | 5 | 9 | Jeff Francoeur | R |
| 6 | 2 | Wilson Ramos | R | 6 | 8 | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 7 | 6 | Ian Desmond | R | 7 | 4 | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 8 | 4 | Dan Uggla | R | 8 | 2 | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 9 | 1 | Max Scherzer | R | 9 | 1 | Sean O'Sullivan | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First-pitch: 1:35 pm EST
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
What's Next:
- Monday, April 13, 2015: at New York Mets, 1:10 pm
- RHP Aaron Harang (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Jacob deGrom (0-1, 3.00 ERA)
- TV: NBC10; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
- Tuesday, April 14, 2015: at New York Mets, 7:10 pm
- RHP David Buchanan (0-1, 18.00 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Harvey (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
- Wednesday, April 15, 2015: at New York Mets, 7:10 pm
- RHP Jerome Williams (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. LHP Jon Niese (0-0, 1.80 ERA)
- TV: TCN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
