Phillies-Nationals: A Preview

The Phillies will be back in action today in Washington in game two of the series with the Nationals. Monday was course a tragic day but in the baseball sense the Phillies rallied together to win their third straight game. Looking to keep the winning streak going before heading home, the Phillies will send Joe Blanton to the mound.

The Phillies won in Blanton’s first start of the year, but it had nothing to do with the starting pitcher. Blanton has an ERA of 15.75 after his first outing, but the beauty of early season games is that stats can change dramatically in a hurry.

The Nationals counter with Shairon Martis, who went three innings against the Braves in his first start and allowed three earned runs on five hits (including a home run) and walked one. His night was cut short due to a rain delay.

The Phillies offense seems to have come alive after a sluggish start against Atlanta. Now if they can just get a solid outing out of a starting pitcher in which early runs (and home runs in general) don’t make it necessary to score a lot of runs. Brad Lidge already has three saves but he has also made for some interesting endings, giving up a quick two-run home run in the series opener.

The Nationals are still looking for their first win of 2009 and they are always a pesky team for the Phillies and don’t expect that to change anytime soon. They are due for a win, and it could very well come today.

Phillies Record: 4-3
Nationals Record: 0-6

NL East Standings (Team, Record, Games Behind)

1. Marlins 6-1, –
2. Braves 5-2, 1
3. PHILLIES 4-3, 2
4. Mets 3-4, 4
5. Nationals 0-7, 6

NL East Power Rankings

1. Marlins
2. Braves
3. PHILLIES
4. Mets
5. Nationals

Pitching probables: Blanton (0-0, 15.75 ERA) vs. Martis (0-0, 9.00 ERA)

TV: MyPHL17

First pitch: 7:05 pm

Game thread will be posted at 6:30 pm. Game recap will be up tomorrow morning.

 

This was originally posted on Macho Row.