Nats avoid a Philly Sweep

The Washington Nationals surely looked as if they were going to be swept by the Philadelphia Phillies.  Trailing 4-1 in the 6th inning, Washington looked all but done. 

Not so.  The Nationals battled back for a 7-5 win and continue to avoided the NL East cellar, improving to 4-5, 1 game above the New York Mets. 

The Phillies started off the scoring with a first inning Chase Utley home run.  The Nats fired back in the third with a ground out RBI by Christian Guzman.   From there, the Phillies hammered and chased Nats starter Scott Olsen in the 6th inning, putting up 3 runs and taking a 4-1 lead.  Olsen’s final numbers were 5.2 inning pitched, 5 hits, and 4 runs.  Prior to the 6th inning, Olsen, in his first game back with the Nats, pitched a pretty good game. 

Ian Desmond pulled the Nats to within 2, singling in Alberto Gonzales, who is starting at 3B for the injured Ryan Zimmerman.  DISCUSS IT

The Nationals then led the charge back in the 8th inning with two familiar bats, Adam Dunn and Zimmerman.   Dunn smacked his first home run of the season to cut the deficit to 4-3.  Zimmerman then pinched hit and smacked a 2 run homer, his first of the year, to give the Nats a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish. 

Ivan Rodriguez knocked in 2 run in the 9th to seal the 7-5 win for the nationals.  Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with 2 RBis and is hitting .407 on the season.  In 27 at bats this season, Pudge has 11 hits and 3 RBis. 

Tyler Clippard (2-0) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to earn his second win.  Clippard has appeared in 5 gamesout of the bullpen and has allowed just 1 run in 8.2 innings.  I still think Clip should be given an opportunity to start.   

Matt Capps earned his 4th save, yielding a run in 1.2 innings. 

Nationals now begin a 3 game series with Milwaukee.