Werth
courtesy of oddlittlebird.

An evening that started out with such promise turned sour right around the top of the 4th inning when Jordan Zimmermann lost his control of the strike zone and then lost his command in it. With the Nats leading 1-0 in the top of the 4th and having won the first two games of this series, to send the Phillies to last place, Jordan Zimmermann walked Shane Victorino ahead of a Hunter Pence blast that would give the Phillies a lead they would not look back from.

During that same inning Nix would score on a Polanco single, but the truly damaging Polanco single was yet to come. In the 6th inning with 2 out and none on Polanco would would hit a shallow fly ball that Werth would try to make a sliding catch on but missed with his glove caught in the turf and bent his wrist backwards. The extent of Werth’s injury is still unknown but it is fitting that a couple days before Zimmerman is due off the DL and LaRoche back in the line-up that the Nats would lose another key player.

Werth’s wrist is broken but his time table is yet unknown. Davey speculated it would be at least six weeks but he will visit a specialist. It is unknown who will take Werth’s place in the outfield but Davey figures to move Harper to right and play a combo of Nady, Bernadina, Lombo, and Tracy in left.

Jordan Zimmermann and a myriad of Nats relievers would combine to give up 9 runs to the last place Phillies who had come into this evenings game having averaged 3.61 runs a game. The worst offender of the Nats pitchers who took the mound was Ryan Perry who took a 3-1 deficit and turned it into a 9-1 drubbing.

Perry got the inning started off promising enough getting Hamels to fly out to Ankiel before walking Rollins, then forgetting he was on first to have him steal second and score on a Juan Pierre single. Perry would then give up a triple and a homer before getting his next out on a fly out to Ankiel by former Nat Laynce Nix. Ruiz would single before Harper ranged back on a deep drive by Polanco that fell off of his glove as he leaped and was ruled a double. Davey would then come out to retrieve Ryan Perry who no longer looked capable of getting an out. Gorzelanny would replace him and give up a two run single before getting John Mayberry Jr. to strike out swinging.

The Nats only run of the evening came all the way back in a long forgotten and promising first inning. After getting two quick outs Cole Hamels decided to send a message to the young Bryce Harper. The Phillies had worked hard to avoid Harper’s bat this weekend having walked him 4 times coming into the evening. Hamels not wanting to waste anymore than one pitch plunked Harper in the back. Werth followed up with a single and Harper raced to third.

What came next with Chad Tracy at the plate is one of the most amazing displays of baseball talent a fan could hope to witness. Every time Hamels threw over to first to check on Werth, Harper would creep further and further down the line. Then Hamels threw over one too many times and Harper took off for home. Nix’s throw back to Ruiz wasn’t in time and Harper had stolen home.

That would not be the last amazing thing Harper would do on the evening. In his second at bat Harper a lefty batting against Cole Hamels, also a lefty, lined a single the other way into left. Later on in the evening Harper would hit what looked like a routine single into left, but with Juan Pierre in left Harper hustled into 2nd for a double.

The Nats will have on off-day on Monday before starting a series in Pittsburgh. Even with Werth out a healthy Zimmerman and LaRoche will help assist Harper in helping a Nats line-up that has struggled to score runs all season long.

David Huzzard

David Huzzard was born at Fairfax Hospital in 1981 and has spent his entire life in the Washington, D.C. area. He has been a fan of all the area sports teams either since he was born or since they arrived here. He is also very pleased that his hometown is a burger town.