But notice what isn’t happening as Walker is going on.
The offense was not able to put up any more runs in support.
By the time the fifth rolled around, Walker would surrender another home run, this one to Alex Call, that made it 3-2 Washington and led to Walker’s exit. Not a bad start from him at all, but nothing to instill a whole lot of confidence that “he’s back!” In the sixth, the Nationals got another run off of Tanner Banks to make it 4-2 and the game took the tenor of one that was over.
Then the daycare opened.
The game tied at four and the race to the finish line was on.
A fully rested bullpen for the Phillies and an off day tomorrow made it feel as though only a run was needed by the offense and it was one in the win column. It certainly looked that way headed into the eighth with Matt Strahm on the hill.
Then the floor dropped out.
Strahm allowed a single, a wild pitch, a walk and a bunt single to load the bases with no one out and the game in peril. When Juan Yepez grounded into a force out at home to keep the game tied, only a measly double play would have been needed and a major threat would have been avoided, yet Jacob Young hit a fly ball to center that scored Andres Chaparro and Washington re-took the lead. In the ninth, Jeff Hoffman continued his run of shaky outings by allowing a solo home run to James Wood and the score was made 6-4.
Still, the ninth presented an opportunity for the team to tie and Eduardo Sosa began with a hit off of Kyle Finnegan to begin the inning. With no one out and a right hander on the mound, Thomson had the chance to use his resting starters on the bench to come into the game...and let Cal Stevenson ground into a double play, followed by a groundball by Garrett Stubbs to end the game.
No doubt there will be talk about Thomson’s decision to not use Bryce Harper or J.T. Realmuto in the ninth, but that is not where the game was lost. The offense disappeared in the middle innings again and Washington was able to squeak out a win from this four game series. A leaky bullpen had some decent moments, but for the most part struggled again, raising a few more concerns moving forward.
Both teams are off tomorrow before the Phillies head out on the road for the week while Washington heads back home.
The vaunted “mop-portunity” was upon the Phillies as this Sunday dawned. Facing the possibility of taking a four game series from the National, Rob Thomson gave forth his Sunday lineup, one that featured several players getting a rest day. Taijuan Walker was on the hill, so confidence was low that the sweep could actually be completed, yet hope sprang anew with home runs from unlikely sources.
Yet in the end, a strategy taken by the manager time and again caused the team to lose (is there where the sarcasm font is supposed to go?)
Walker was actually not too bad today. Is that a product of lowered expectations? Yes, but only allowing three runs over 4 2⁄3 innings counts as something of a win for the team thanks to erratic starts in the past by the erstwhile right hander. He was even given a lead in the first inning thanks to a Nick Castellanos single that scored Trea Turner for the game’s first run.
Turner produced the second run of the game with a home run to center field that seemed to take everyone watching by surprise.
Over the first few innings of the game, Walker was pretty strong. Though he allowed C.J. Abrams to steal three bases over those innings, that was the only damage the team was able to create. In the fourth, Keibert Ruiz was able to tag Walker for a two run home run that knotted the game at two.
While Taijuan Walker didn't have a horrible outing, he still struggled with his command and pitch count vs the Nationals.
Eric Hartline
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