GAME
RECAP: Phils Swat Nats 4-3
The Nationals' bullpen had been virtually unhittable
entering Tuesday, but it proved it could be scored upon as the Phillies claimed
a 4-3 win at Nationals Park on Tuesday night. It's Philadelphia's second
straight victory over Washington. The score was tied at 3, when the Phillies
took the lead in the seventh inning off left-hander Oliver Perez.
With one out, Andres
Blanco doubled
to left field. Maikel
Franco followed
and doubled over the head of center fielder Michael
Taylor to
send Blanco home to take the one-run lead. "That certainly had a lot of
drama to it, that game with that guy," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin
said, referring to Nationals right fielder Bryce
Harper, who grounded out with the tying run on first in
the ninth to end the game. Right-hander Max
Scherzer started
for Washington and he lasted six innings, allowed three runs with seven
strikeouts, but did not figure in the decision. Phillies right-hander Vince
Velasquez went
six innings and allowed three runs for his third win. Blanco got the Phillies
on the board with a two-run home run in the first inning and fell a triple
short of the cycle.
PHILS PHACTS:
- Blanco engaged Scherzer in a little cat-and-mouse game
early. He called time out twice before Scherzer delivered a 0-1 pitch in
the first, which Blanco hit for a two-run home run. Blanco called time out
three more times in a nine-pitch at-bat in the third. It resulted in a
double play, but Blanco came back, singling against Scherzer in the fifth
and doubling and scoring the go-ahead run against Perez in the seventh. "He
feels comfortable on the mound and I want to feel comfortable at the
plate, too," Blanco said. "It's baseball. It's not something I'm
just doing because I'm Blanco. Buddy, I'm not playing every day. Let me
get comfortable, too."
- Mackanin said he
had a plan to handle Harper and it appeared to be intentionally walking
him. It paid off as Zimmerman fouled out and struck out looking to end the
third and seventh innings, respectively. The Phillies didn't intentionally
walk Harper in the fifth, and he singled to score a run. Harper then came
up with two outs and one on in the ninth and Jeanmar
Gomez retired
the slugger on a grounder to third after an eight-pitch at-bat. "Harper
is a tough guy to get out," Velasquez said. "His approach is
just ridiculous." Harper said he doesn't mind being walked
intentionally by the Phillies because he has faith in the hitters behind
him like Zimmerman and Jayson
Werth. "I don't mind getting on base. If it's a
walk or intentional walk or a hit, I would rather get on base as best I
can for the guys behind me. We just take it one day at a time,"
Harper said.
- "I'm not comparing him to [Roy] Halladay, but I didn't like
the way he pitched and he only gave up three runs. I remember sitting with
[former Phillies coach] Sam Perlozzo after a game and I'd say, 'Boy,
[Halladay] was terrible tonight and he only gave up three runs.' That's
how good he was." -- Mackanin, on Velasquez's outing.
- Franco is hitting .444 (8-for-18) with three home runs, eight RBIs
and four runs scored in his last four games.
- Franco said he is OK after turning his ankle rounding first base on
a double in the seventh. An athletic trainer checked him out on the field,
but he remained in the game.
NEXT
GAME:
Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson hopes to get back on track Wednesday night against the Nationals in a
7:05 p.m. ET start. After he allowed just two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings in
his first two starts, Hellickson has allowed nine earned runs in 7 1/3 innings
in his last two starts. That includes an April 15 start against the Nationals,
when he allowed five earned runs in just three innings at Citizens Bank Park.
PHILS PHACTS:
Good Game Plan – Give Andres Blanco a break. He just wants to get
comfortable, too. He had a big night Tuesday in a 4-3 victory over the Nationals at Nationals Park.
He hit a two-run home run against Nationals ace Max Scherzer in the first inning and made Scherzer
work hard in a nine-pitch at-bat in the third. Blanco then hit a first-pitch
fastball for a single against Scherzer in the fifth and doubled and scored the
go-ahead run in the seventh against Oliver Perez. "It's not approach,"
Blanco said. "It's just getting a chance to play and just having your best
swing. He attacks the zone and he found my bat right away." Blanco truly
shined in those first two at-bats. Scherzer issued a leadoff walk to Phillies
center fielder Odubel Herrera in the first. Scherzer got a
first-pitch strike on Blanco, but Scherzer got preoccupied with Herrera at
first base and held the ball an inordinate amount of time out of the stretch. Blanco
called time once. He called time twice. He then smacked a two-run homer to
right-center. "I thought he was holding Herrera," Blanco said.
"I was wondering if he was holding him or messing around with my high
kick. He got mad. You can tell in his face he wanted to say something to me,
but he can't. Come on, it's the game. It's baseball." "I'm going to
hold the ball," Scherzer said. "I know how to shut down the running
game. Herrera's a good runner. He can steal a base at will. I don't get
frustrated when the hitter calls time. He can call time all he wants. I don't
get frustrated by that. I understand he probably doesn't want to sit there. If
he calls time, that's on him. It's up to the umpire." Blanco called time
three more times in his third-inning at-bat against Scherzer, who was visibly
annoyed on at least one occasion. Blanco then smashed a ball to Nationals
second baseman Daniel Murphy for a double play. But the point is
Blanco made Scherzer work. "He feels comfortable on the mound and I want
to feel comfortable at the plate, too," Blanco said. "It's baseball.
It's not something I'm just doing because I'm Blanco. Buddy, I'm not playing
every day. Let me get comfortable, too. Yeah, take time out. I have a big high
kick." Blanco is hitting .346 (9-for-26) with three doubles, one home run,
five RBIs and a 1.010 OPS in 14 games. One wonders if Phillies manager Pete
Mackanin could find more places for him to play. Left field, maybe? The
Phillies have had the lowest production in baseball in left field. "[Bench
coach Larry] Bowa asked that during the game," Mackanin said.
"[Blanco] is who he is, and I think if he played every day he might not be
the same player, but it's hard to find a player who can do what he does. He's
the best utility man I've ever seen."
Solid Strategy – Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin said Tuesday afternoon he had some ideas for handling
Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper. He
said he conveyed those ideas to Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure. "Just
throw him fastballs down the middle of the plate," Mackanin joked before
Tuesday night's 4-3 victory at Nationals Park. In reality, the
Phillies walked Harper in the first, intentionally walked him with a runner on
second and two outs in the third and intentionally walked him with a runner on
second and two outs in the seventh. It paid off each time as Nationals first
baseman Ryan Zimmerman flied
out, fouled out and struck out looking to end those innings. But the Phillies
also pitched to Harper twice. He singled with runners on first and second and
two outs in the fifth to cut the Phillies' lead to 3-2. He then grounded out to
end the game with the tying runner on first base in the ninth inning following
an eight-pitch at-bat against Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez, who
had allowed two hits in two at-bats in his career against Harper, including a
go-ahead homer in the 10th inning April 17 at Citizens Bank Park. "That
certainly had a lot of drama to it, that game with that guy," Mackanin
said of Harper. Gomez's first seven pitches to Harper were a mixture of sinkers
and splitters. He made his eighth pitch a changeup. "The last out was a
really good battle," Gomez said. Mackanin said he had no plans to
intentionally walk Harper there, even with Stephen Drew standing
in the on-deck circle. "I wasn't going to walk him and put the tying run
at second base where a single could tie up the game," Mackanin said. But
they were cautious earlier. Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez,
who allowed three runs in six innings, once played on a travel team with
Harper, so they know each other. He discreetly pointed to the Phillies' dugout
when he intentionally walked Harper in the third, letting his former teammate
know it wasn't his call. But the Phillies' cautious nature against Harper makes
sense. Harper got Velasquez in the fifth. "His approach is just flat out
ridiculous," Velasquez said. But it is tough to hold down Harper for long.
He gets another crack at the Phillies on Wednesday night.
Today
In Phils History – In 1988 Mike Schmidt broke up another potential no
hitter in the 9th inning by Nolan Ryan (as if he didn’t already have
enough at that point)… the game was later tied on a double by Lance Parrish but
the Phillies couldn’t hold on and lost in the 10th. A big part of
the championship team 20 years later was newcomer Pedro Feliz who was born on
this day in 1975.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 10-10 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most
expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the
exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the
Phillies are 39-49-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom
half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a
77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!
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