Joe Ross Propels Washington Nationals To 6th Staight Win
By Chris Lacey
The Washington Nationals coasted to an easy victory on Friday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, as they won 9-1, in large part from the effort of starter Joe Ross.
The Nationals didn’t waste much time jumping on Philadelphia Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson, as they tattooed him for five runs in the opening frame.
Nationals outfielder Michael Taylor got the festivities started with a solo home run to left field on the second pitch he saw from Hellickson. Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back singles, and Daniel Murphy drew a walk to load the bases.
Jayson Werth cleared the bases with a double to left field to put the Nats up 4-0. Danny Espinosa scorched a two-out single to center field, and this brought Werth home to tack on the fifth run of inning.
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Then, Ross was able to get in the hit column with a double to left field, but Hellickson finally ended the first inning by forcing Taylor to ground out, ending an inning in which the Nats sent ten batters to the plate.
This is all the support that Ross would require in the contest. He baffled the Phillies, as indicated by him yielding three hits in 7.2 innings and walking only two batters. He struck out five and lowered his ERA on the season to a microscopic 0.61.The right-hander was very efficient as 71 of his 107 pitches were thrown for strikes.
Werth smoked a one-out double during the third inning to the gap in left and scored the sixth run of the game for the Nationals, due to a throwing error by Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco.
Two innings later, Murphy led off with a double to right field against reliever Brett Oberholtzer. It appeared the scoring opportunity would be wasted when both Werth and catcher Wilson Ramos lined out. However, Espinosa came through with his second RBI of the game, as he singled to score Murphy.
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The sixth inning began rather innocent with Ross and Taylor striking out swinging. But, Anthony Rendon kept the inning alive with a single to left field. Then, Harper unloaded on the first offering from Oberholtzer and crushed the baseball to right field for a two-run home run. This was Harper’s fourth home run of the year and put the Nationals up 9-0.
The Phillies avoided the shutout, as first baseman Ryan Howard led the ninth inning with a home run to right field off Nationals reliever, Yusmeiro Petit. Petit rebounded and retired the next three batters to end the game.
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The Nationals pounded out 16 hits and every individual in the lineup recorded at least one hit. They showed how deep their lineup was, as everyone contributed in the victory.
Next Up: The Nationals (8-1) continue their road series against the Phillies (5-6) on Saturday. Max Scherzer (1-0, 4.15 ERA) gets the ball, and he will be opposed by Phillies’ starter Aaron Nola (0-1, 3.21). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and you can watch the game on MASN.