Before this series began, few might have guessed that the Nationals would take two out of three games from the Phillies, but that’s exactly what happened as the Nats won the rubber match June 1, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.
The Nationals did not back down in this series as they faced three of the best pitchers in the league’s most potent rotation.
“I think you have to have confidence, and I think our players do have confidence,” Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman said after the game. “Hopefully they’re feeling confident because they deserve to feel confident.”
The Nats’ offense scored early for the third-straight day as Jayson Werth hit a single off of Phillies’ starter Roy Oswalt to score center fielder Roger Bernadina in the bottom of the first inning.
The Phillies tied the game in the top of the second inning following an error by Nationals’ third baseman Alex Cora that allowed Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard to score.
The Nats retook the lead in the bottom of the third inning as left fielder Laynce Nix hit his ninth home run of the season, a solo shot to put Washington up 2-1.
Closer Drew Storen came in at the top of the ninth to shut things down for Philadelphia.
Nats’ starter John Lannan, who had not pitched well against the Phillies throughout his career, picked up his first win against the team’s NL East rival.
“They’re the team to beat in the division, and John’s had his troubles against them,” Riggleman said. “He’s done some things against them where you’d think he’d have a couple of wins somewhere.”
After a terrible road trip in which the Nationals lost seven of eight and a series loss to the San Diego Padres at home this past weekend, it looks as if Washington might be snapping out of a two-week funk.
“We’ve played good baseball and we’ve swung the bats good lately,” Riggleman said. “We’ve got to just continue on that path and put together a few weeks where we pound out some hits, let our pitchers relax a little.”
The team held a meeting before Tuesday night’s game in which they won 10-2. According to Riggleman, players were beginning to get irritated with the way they were playing.
“Guys are getting frustrated, the numbers aren’t there and we’re finding ways to lose games,” he said. “You know, the heck with all that. It’s baseball. This is not the cure for cancer. Let’s get out there and play baseball. When it’s all said and done, we come in here, we look ourselves in the mirror and we know we left it all on the field. I think more often than not we’re gonna be happy with the results.”
