Washington Nationals: Ramos Helps Nats Sweep Phillies

The Washington Nationals defeated the Phillies 7-2 behind a 4-RBI performance from catcher Wilson Ramos

The Washington Nationals (33-21) were able to get a big game tonight at Citizens Bank Park out of their catcher, Wilson Ramos. Ramos went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI’s. Ramos and the offense provided enough runs for Max Scherzer as he shut down the Philadelphia Phillies’ lineup for eight innings. The Nats defeated the Phillies (26-27) by a final score of 7-2 to complete the three game sweep and extend their win streak to four games.

The Nats got on the board first in the top of the first against Adam Morgan. After Morgan hit Daniel Murphy with two outs, Ryan Zimmerman drove him with a double to right field for the game’s first run. In the fourth inning, after a leadoff double by Anthony Rendon, Ramos hit a base hit to left to drive in Rendon and put the Nats up 2-0.

Two innings later, Ramos and Danny Espinosa would help break the game open. Zimmerman and Rendon began the inning with back-to-back singles. Then, Ramos took a 1-0 changeup from Morgan and hit a three-run home run to right. His seventh home run of the season put the Nationals up 5-0.

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Two batters later, Espinosa hit his second home run of the series when he hit a solo shot to left center to increase the lead to 6-0. It was Espinosa’s seventh home run of the season As for Morgan, he went six innings, gave up six runs on nine hits, and struck out six in the loss. The Washington Nationals would get their seventh run on a sacrifice fly by Zimmerman in the top of the seventh inning.

The seven runs would be plenty for Scherzer as he shut out the Phillies for the first six innings. Then, in the seventh, Tyler Goeddel got the Phillies on the board when he hit a two-run homer to left-center. His third home run of the season cut the lead to 7-2.

However, that would be the only mistake Scherzer would make. The Nats’ right-hander went eight innings, gave up two runs on five hits, struck out 11, and walked two on 111 pitches (78 strikes) to pick up his sixth win of the season.

Even with Bryce Harper out of the lineup for the second consecutive day, the Nats got great production from the heart of their lineup. The three through six spots in the Washington Nationals order order (Murphy, Zimmerman, Rendon, and Ramos) went 8-for-15 with a home run, six runs scored, and six RBI’s.

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Next Game: The Washington Nationals will begin a three game series Friday night at Great American Ballpark against the Cincinnati Reds (17-35). You can catch the game on MASN2 at 7:10 p.m ET. Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.57 ERA) will start for the Nats against Brandon Finnegan (1-4, 4.14) for the Reds.

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