Tune in at 7:05 PM ET as the Phillies take on the Nationals. Matthias Koster will be providing updates on all the action.
Hello everyone. The new look Phillies take on the Nationals. Great pitching match-up tonight, Lee vs Strasburg
PHI
Rollins
Pierre
Utley
Howard
Ruiz
Nix
Mayberry
Frandsen
Lee
WSH
Lombardozzi
Harper
Espinosa
Morse
Moore
DeRosa
Flores
Bernadina
Strasburg
As the lineups show, the Phillies do not have any of their new acquisitions in their lineup
This game still contains the subtext of the pre-season ticket sale fiasco. The Nat's 'Take back the park' promo, essentially their attempt to keep Phillies fans out of the ballpark
The Phillies traded both Victorino & Pence today. I'm shocked that Juan Pierre is still with the team
Comments, etc: Feel free to post anything game & team related. We can cover any non WSH, PSH or NL East trades in-between commercial breaks.
The Nationals are taking the field. Lombardozzi is playing 2B, DeRosa is playing 3rd
Rollins will lead off vs Strasburg. We've head about the innings count. I wonder if the Nats we'll start tapering off his pitch count
1st pitch is taken for a strike, 95 MPH
Nasty 90 MPH change with tailing movement forces a swinging strikeout from Rollins
One down, Pierre coming up
Pierre rips a single into RF. Flores is behind the plate. He has a decent arm. Strasburg can be quick to the plate, I'm not sure about his pick-off move
Pierre on 1st, Utley at the plate
Opposite field single into LF. Phillies in business with runners on 1st/2nd, one out, Howard coming up
@Brett Lockwood What was the run line? Must have been low, considering the pitchers and the trades
Slowly hit groundball towards 2nd. Lombardozzi dives, fields, and throws to 2nd. They get the force. Keep in mind this took a while to develop but Howard is so slow that they were still able to complete the back-half of the DP by a few steps
Inning over, PHI with 2 hits and nothing to show for it. Cliff Lee, 1-6, prepares to take the mound
Lombardozzi, Harper, Espinosa will bat this inning
The Nats have had a ton of injuries this year. Zimmerman's revolving door, Desmond hitting the DL, LaRoche at times day-to-day, Ramos out for the year. And they are still 21 games over .500
Lee has allowed 15 HR in 118.1 IP this season. This is over double his HR rate from 2011
Lombardozzi leading off. A very useful player for the Nats, perhaps one of their team MVP's due to his positional flexibility
Full count, 7th pitch of AB upcoming
Walk for Lombardozzi. I should mention that Lee has also just about doubled his walk rate from last season
Still, he deserves better than a 1-6 record. But the BB + HR are part of the reason behind it
Harper up. He hits a groundball to Utley. Utley fields, gets the force at 2nd. Rollins eats the ball, allowing Harper to reach on a fielders choice
So Lombardozzi was set down. Harper on first via the FC. One down, Espinosa at the plate
Mike Morse is on deck. Yet another player to spend time on the DL this season
Groundball to Rollins. He takes the out at 2nd, yet another fielders choice, as Espinosa is safe at 1st
Espinosa at 1st, two down, Morse coming up
Morse has some of the quickest hands in baseball. He holds his hands out and up, I have no idea how he makes contacst
He makes contact this time, grounding out to 3rd. That ends the inning. WSH earn a walk, and a couple fielders choice. Tied at 0-0 heading to the 2nd
5/6/7 due up for PHI. Carlos Ruiz leads off. The heart and soul for the PHI, I imagine he would have earned quite a haul in the trade market
Ruiz takes a fastball the other way, past Moore, and into RF for a leadoff double
Ruiz on 2nd, Nix coming up with Mayberry Jr. on deck. This is where the trade hurts the Phils. The lineup is very weak once they get past Ruiz
The Phillies did recall OF Dominic Brown. Whether they'll give him a legitimate chance is anyone's guess.
96 MPH up in the zone. Nix can't catch up and is down via the strikeout
One down, Mayberry coming up
With the Victorino trade, Mayberry will play CF for the PHI. How many players have numerous games at LF, CF and 1B in the same season?
Big hook on a 2-2 pitch, it's in the dirt but Mayberry was set up by pitches earlier in the AB. He strikes out
3rd K for Strasburg. Kevin Frandsen, former SF Giant, is at bat for PHI
