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PHILADELPHIA – As their season enters its second month, the Nationals have established an ability to be far more competitive against top competition than they had been the previous three seasons as they embarked on their roster rebuild. They’ve stood toe-to-toe with the Mets, Phillies, Dodgers and Diamondbacks in a manner not seen around here in a while.
But that doesn’t mean they’ve looked competitive against that caliber of competition every night. Sometimes, they’ve still looked like the inferior ballclub, as was the case tonight during a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the Phillies.
Jake Irvin labored through his worst start of the young season, putting his team in an early hole and allowing runs in four of the six innings he pitched. The lineup didn’t have a rousing rally in it this time, unable to duplicate its impressive feat from Tuesday’s series opener, instead going down quietly against the Philadelphia pitching staff.
“The last week, 10 days, it seems like anybody coming out of the bullpen, we’ve been all over,” designated hitter Josh Bell said. “But they definitely had our number tonight.”
As such, the Nats lost their third straight game, falling to 13-18. They’ll need a win in Thursday’s finale here to avoid a disheartening series sweep before heading to Cincinnati for the weekend.
