The Nationals’ offense put up a valiant effort, but once again, Mitchell Parker didn’t even give them a chance. As he failed to make it out of the second inning, giving up six runs (five earned) in the process, it put the bullpen in a nasty situation, and they just couldn’t keep the Phillies quiet. I’ll get all my ranting out of the way now.
A serious professional baseball team does not continue to run Mitchell Parker out there to start every fifth day; it just doesn’t happen on teams that respect their fans and their other players. Now obviously, the 2025 Washington Nationals are the complete opposite of a serious contending team, but if Parker finds a spot in the Opening Day rotation next year, our front office probably has failed us.
The game kicked off with the Phillies grabbing a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Brady House made an error, allowing Trea Turner to score after Parker walked him and Bryce Harper with one out. Mitchell would get the next two men out, limiting the damage this time. The same cannot be said for inning number two. After the Nationals had the tying run on third base with one out and didn’t score him in the bottom of the first, the Phillies got to work in the second.
The inning began innocently enough; Parker actually got the first two outs without even allowing a runner to reach third base. Then the wheels fell off. Philadelphia got back-to-back RBI singles from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, then the big blow was a three-run homer by Alec Bohm. To Miguel Cairo‘s credit, he didn’t waste any time letting Parker sit out there and try to find it; he went right out and pulled him off the field. That had been uncharacteristic for the Nats of the past, and that was a positive signal to the team.
The Nats’ offense went to work in the bottom of the third against Aaron Nola. Within the inning, the Nats had a string of seven batters reaching base consecutively, knocking out Nola, and the six runs scored in the inning, would give us a new ballgame, tied at six. CJ Abrams started the scoring with an RBI single, then Daylen Lile brought home two runs on a single of his own, followed by a two-run double by Dylan Crews, and capped off by an RBI double from Jose Tena, who was sent back down to Triple-A after this one. The corresponding move there was Andres Chaparro being brought back up.
- Aaron Nola: 2.1 innings, 7 hits, 6 runs (6 earned), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 53 pitches
- Mitchell Parker: 1.2 innings, 4 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 3 walks, 0 strikeouts, 52 pitches
The tie score didn’t even last an inning. The Phillies got two in the top of the fourth, coming courtesy of a two-run single by Weston Wilson. They added on another in the top of the sixth on a solo homer by Nick Castellanos, and the 9-6 score would hold until the top of the eighth inning.
The Phillies got their last two runs in the eighth. An RBI single by Bryce Harper and a sacrifice fly by Harrison Bader gave us the 11-6 score that would take us into the bottom of the ninth.
Give the scrappy Nationals some credit; they did just enough in the ninth to force Philadelphia to at least use their closer, Jhoan Duran.
The bottom of the ninth inning had Paul DeJong checked in with yet another homer, this one of the three-run variety. That made it an 11-9 game, and after Daylen Lile followed with a double, the Nats had the tying run at the plate with one out, and in came Duran. He would get a 96 mph groundout from Dylan Crews in a 9-pitch battle, and then James Wood was brought off the bench to pinch-hit, and Duran struck him out on three pitches, blowing a fastball at 102 mph by him to end the game.
This one was definitely disappointing from the pitching perspective. Jackson Rutledge and Clayton Beeter are the only guys who pitched well enough to be shouted out this afternoon. The offense had a good day, getting three-hit performances from Luis Garcia Jr. and CJ Abrams, supplemented by a two-hit day by Lile and some contributions from other guys in the lineup.
After the game, Jose Tena was sent back to Triple-A Rochester. No corresponding move was announced today, and we most likely won’t get that until Tuesday afternoon as the Nationals get an off day at home tomorrow.
On Tuesday, the Mets roll into town, trying to rebound from what’s been a miserable stretch of baseball lately for them. The series will start Tuesday night at 6:45. Jake Irvin (8-7, 5.14 ERA) will try to get his ERA back down under five, facing all-star lefty David Peterson (7-5, 3.30 ERA). This will be a tough matchup for the Nats. Peterson tossed a complete-game shutout against them in New York earlier this season. I’m a little concerned for what may go down, but I’m sure we’ve come to feel that way most days anyway.
