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Washington Nationals Reaction: Joe Ross Impressive In 5-1 Win

By Ricky Keeler |
May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop Stephen Drew (10) slides safely past Philadelphia Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp (29) for an inside the park home run during the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. The Nationals defeated the Phillies, 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop Stephen Drew (10) slides safely past Philadelphia Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp (29) for an inside the park home run during the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. The Nationals defeated the Phillies, 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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Check out our takeaways from last night’s 5-1 Washington Nationals win over the Phillies

After the Washington Nationals (32-21) got a strong outing from Tanner Roark on Monday night, Joe Ross followed that impressive start with one of his own. The 23-year-old right-hander went seven innings, gave up one run on three hits, struck out five, and walked two on 103 pitches in a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies (26-26). While the Nats haven’t given Ross much run support, he has been able to put together some strong outings as of late.

As for the offense, they didn’t mange much against Aaron Nola with Bryce Harper out of the lineup. But, they made their runs count thanks to two solo home runs from Jayson Werth in the first inning and Daniel Murphy in the sixth. The Nats added more insurance runs in the ninth thanks to home runs from Danny Espinosa and pinch-hitter Stephen Drew (inside-the-park home run).

With June now here, the Washington Nationals hope their home run display from May will carry over. Thanks to their four home runs last night, they finished with the most home runs of any National League team in May (43). That total is three higher than the team in second, the New York Mets.

Once Ross left the game, the bullpen duo of Felipe Rivero and Jonathan Papelbon shut the door and held the Philadelphia lineup to one hit and struck out three of the seven batters they faced combined. With the win last night, the Nats enter today with a two game lead over the Mets in the NL East standings.

Before Max Scherzer takes on Adam Morgan tonight (7:05 p.m, MASN2) as the Nats go for the sweep of the Phillies, here are my takeaways from last night’s 5-1 win

Next: Rivero Shutting Down The 8th

May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Felipe Rivero (73) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Nationals defeated the Phillies, 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Felipe Rivero (73) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Nationals defeated the Phillies, 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Rivero Shutting Down The 8th

Even though Ross was the main story as far as pitching is concerned, you can’t look overlook the job that Felipe Rivero has done late in games for the Nats. In his last ten games, Rivero has given up only one run. Last night, he pitched in his third straight game and was still effective.

Out of the 13 pitches that he threw, nine of them went for strikes and he had two strikeouts. Even though the 24-year-old finished the month of May with a higher ERA (3.65) than in the month of April (3.55). But, his numbers are similar from April except he threw 1/3 of an inning less and he walked one fewer batter.

So far this season, Rivero has showed good command as he has 32 strikeouts and only five walks in 25 innings. He has 22 of those K’s in the eighth inning, which is tied for the third most in the National League, trailing only Brandon Maurer of the Padres (27) and David Phelps of the Miami Marlins (30).

If there’s one thing Rivero needs to work on going forward, it would be his success against left-handed hitters. Lefties this season are hitting .286 against him with four RBI’s and a .366 on-base percentage. As for the right-handed hitters, they are hitting a mere .111 with two home runs and a .172 on-base.

This season, Dusty Baker has relied a lot on Rivero in the late innings and for the most part he has delivered. Usually, we see Baker go with both Shawn Kelley and Rivero in the eighth inning, but Baker has used a lefty solely in the eighth most recently and that decision has paid off so far.

Next: Ross Reels In Phillies

May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross (41) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross (41) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Ross Reels In Phillies

After a rough start to the month of May, Joe Ross finished the month with two consecutive victories. Even though the 23-year-old finished the month of May with a 2-4 record and a 3.32 ERA, he gave up three earned runs or fewer in four of his six outings.

Last night, he didn’t get ahead of too many counts when you consider he only threw 12 first pitch strikes to the 24 batters he faced, but he still managed to throw 67 strikes out of the 103 pitches he threw.

Ross’ rough inning occurred in the bottom of the third. He gave up a leadoff single to David Lough and a triple to Cesar Hernandez that ended up tying the game at one. However, Ross held the damage to one run as he got two groundouts, including one where Hernandez was thrown out at the plate, and a flyout to center by Freddy Galvis.

As we have seen all season, Ross has been allowed to go deep into games by Baker. He has thrown 103+ pitches in four of his last six games. But, he has been one of the Nats’ best starters away from home. His 1.54 ERA in six road outings is the second best in the NL among pitchers who have started four or more road games (Steven Matz of the Mets – 4-0, 1.32).

Of course, with pitchers such as Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in the rotation, Ross tends to get overlooked, but when the back end of the rotation is clicking like Ross and Roark are as of lately, this is a tough team to score runs against. Plus, Ross didn’t pitch with much run support this month when you consider the team scored 16 runs in the six games he pitched.

Next: Another Day, Another Multi-Hit Game

May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth (28) celebrates with second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
May 31, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth (28) celebrates with second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Another Day, Another Multi-Hit Game For Murphy

Whenever i live tweet a game here on District On Deck, I like to use the tweet that says another day, another multi-hit game for Daniel Murphy. That tweet still applied for Murphy last night as he was the only Washington Nationals player to have a multi-hit game last night. He went 2-for-4, which included getting his second home run of the series.

In the top of the sixth, Murphy took a 1-2 two-seam fastball from Nola over the wall in right field to give the Nats a 2-1 lead. While Murphy didn’t quite get to .400 for his batting average, he still is hitting a league best .397. But, as Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports tweeted last night, that may not been his best stat:

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Murphy heads into June with a ten-game hitting streak and he shows no signs of slowing down. However, if you look at his career splits, Murphy has a .277 batting average in June, which is the lowest he has in any month. But, that number is lower because of the five games he played in June last year.

His second hit of the night came in the eighth inning when his infield single gave him his 47th hit of the month, which tied the all-time Expos record for most hits in a month. Plus, he is now 9-for-20 (.450) at Citizens Bank Park this season with two home runs and five RBI’s.

Next: Recap: Murphy, Ross Set Tone In Victory

One other stat that stands out about Murphy this season is his productivity with two outs. In those situations, he is hitting .457 with six home runs, 18 RBI’s, and has a .465 on-base percentage. His 18 RBI’s are fourth in the NL and one behind Bryce Harper for the team lead. Harper also is ahead of Harper in on-base percentage (.467).

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