Washington Nationals: Good, bad, and ugly from Phillies series

Nothing like leaving town and having the Philadelphia Phillies in the rear view mirror. Not only from a distance standpoint, but also a standings aspect. Fresh off a sweep of the division foe, the Washington Nationals will fly to Miami winners in nine of their last ten games. Currently sitting two games under .500 and in second place in the National League East, a combination of great pitching and timely (finally!) hitting have propelled the Nats back into divisional contention.

After Max Scherzer pitched the team to a win in the opener, it looked like the Nationals were going to have to leave town with a split after the Phillies jumped out to a five run lead in game two. For a Nationals team who has struggled to score runs this year, and seems down and out if they face an early deficit, the offensive onslaught was a welcome sight in their come from behind victory.

The good, bad, and ugly from the Washington Nationals two game series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The good.

Timely hitting. We have to spotlight this aspect since we rarely have seen the Nationals come through with a clutch hit this season. Two first inning runs in game one. Seems like the Nationals have been playing from behind all year, though playing with the lead is better for everyone involved. Two out RBIs. Seven of the 16 runs in this series came when the Nats had two outs. Yes, the Nationals scored 16 runs in two games, that in itself is amazing.

A grand slam. Finally the Nationals did something while the bases were loaded. The Nationals trailed 5-0, 9-5, 12-11, and came back from all three. Timely hitting!

Kyle Schwarber in the leadoff spot. His numbers since moving into the leadoff spot have been unreal. He added to them with a game tying, three-run home run in game two. He may have finished with the hat trick in strikeouts, though he added a walk and scored two runs as well.

Starlin Castro. Belive me, I’ve been at the front of the “let’s kick Castro to the curb” movement. I am still not sure he should be getting playing time over Jordy Mercer (while Castro was on the restricted list, Mercer reached base every game, including a three-hit performance), or Luis Garcia. Castro came up huge against the Phills though, with three hits and three-RBIs in the finale, the most critical coming in the top of the 9th with the Nationals trailing.

The bad

The starting pitching. This has been a strength over the course of the recent winning stretch, and it took a step back against Philadelphia. Scherzer was solid in just surrendering two hits, but he walked three and threw 106 pitches in just five innings. This was his first time out since coming off the Injured List, but this team needs more from their ace.

Erick Fedde entered the contest not allowing a run in his past 19 innings. He tacked on another one before getting lit up for three against the bottom half of the Phillies batting order. Fedde lasted just four innings, walked three and gave up two home runs. Nine bullpen innings used. That’s too much for a two game set, especially when the next off-day comes with the All-Star break. In 18 days.

Davey Martinez’s bullpen usage. This is an easy armchair bullpen coach moment. Seven relievers were used. Only two pitched a full inning. This game was all-hands on deck. Kyle McGowin was tiring and never should have faced Andrew McCutchen, especially with Wander Suero already warmed up in the bullpen. Suero and Justin Miller faced just one batter each, because their spot in the batting order was due up and they were pinch hit for. Brad Hand was out (because he threw too many pitches securing the win the night before) leaving Paolo Espino to the ninth. Martinez continues to trust Tanner Rainey in high leverage situations when more times than not he has failed (today included). As evidenced by his 7.54 earned run average.