Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
So much for the Washington Nationals playing spoiler. If we didn’t know better, we would think manager Dave Martinez was making moves to fail like leaving in Patrick Corbin in a game that was past the point of getting positive results. The Phillies more than any team have been the recipient of the Nats failures since the day before the trade deadline. If the Phillies win the NL East, manager Joe Girardi should send a “thank you” gift to Martinez.
Since Brad Miller walked-off on Sam Clay, and the Nats, on July 29, the team from Washington is an imperfect 0-7 against the team from Philadelphia. The Nats blew leads in 5-of-those-7 games in that span, and in three games had leads going into the 7th innings of those games.
To make matters harder to swallow for Nats fans, they have turned Bryce Harper into a legitimate MVP candidate. Seven of his twenty-six dingers (27%) this season — have come courtesy of the Nats. He is slashing .419/ .532/ .855/ 1.387 against the Nats this season. Why would Josiah Gray pitch middle/inside edge on Harper with a curveball in his hot zone? We know you get Harper out by pitching him at different eye levels on the outside edges and then get him to expand above and below the zone.
The good news that this Hurricane Ida postponed game from yesterday to today gives us some gorgeous weather. Enjoy.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, NBCSports Philly, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Lane Thomas CF
2. Alcides Escobar SS
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Josh Bell 1B
5. Yadiel Hernandez LF
6. Keibert Ruiz C
7. Carter Kieboom 3B
8. Luis Garcia 2B
9. Paolo Espino RHP
