One more win!
courtesy of oddlittlebird.
The game came complete with an hour and forty eight minute rain delay but the Washington Nationals pulled off an 8-4 victory Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Phillies in D.C. Starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg got some much needed run support to aid his efforts and secure his fifth win of the season.
Strasburg tossed seven innings and gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out eleven on 109 pitches (79 strikes). Of the two earned runs scored on Strasburg on the night, Phillies pinch hitter John Mayberry, Jr. hit a one-out, two-run homerun in the seventh inning just before the game went into the rain delay at the stretch.
Washington continued what they started offensively in Tuesday night during game one of the series against Philadelphia with a big four-run rally. Second baseman Danny Espinosa came up to bat with the bases loaded and one out that inning against Phillies starting pitcher A.J. Burnett and crushed a two-RBI double off the wall in right-center to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. A single from Strasburg with runners on base to follow would also account for additional run support and the Nats closed the fourth inning with four runs on three hits; Nats 4, Phillies 0.
A pair of errors made by first baseman Adam LaRoche and Strasburg in the fifth inning allowed a two-run rally in favor of Philadelphia to cut the Phillies’ run deficit in half but Washington’s offense continued to string together runs in the fifth and sixth innings to secure their eight run lead. Third baseman Anthony Rendon sent a laser of a solo homerun off Burnett to the visitor’s bullpen in the fifth before the Nats managed a three hit, three run rally in the sixth.
Esipnosa continued his night of clutch hitting to start the sixth inning rally with a single. He’d go on to steal his fifth base of the season advancing to second while Strasburg followed by drawing a walk. Outfielder Denard Span’s RBI-double sent Espinosa home before a one-out two-RBI single hit by Burnett finalized Washington’s run count for the night; Nats 8, Phillies 2.
Minus the seventh inning rally the Phillies managed via Mayberry’s pinch hit homerun, the rain swept over Nats Park come stretch time. Once play resumed, right-handed reliever Aaron Barrett and left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins entered the game and tossed two spotless innings; Nats 8, Phillies 4.
Rachel moved to DC in the fall of 2005 to study Journalism and Music at American University. When she’s not keeping up with the latest Major League Baseball news, she works on making music as an accomplished singer-songwriter and was even a featured performer/speaker at TEDxDupont Circle in 2012. Rachel has also contributed to The Washington Examiner and MASN Sports’ Nationals Buzz as a guest blogger. See why she loves DC. E-Mail: rachel@welovedc.com.
