Roark is dominant yet again in Nats' win over Phillies

PHILADELPHIA - Ask a bunch of people around baseball - players, coaches, managers, executives, scouts, media members - for a list of the best pitchers in the National League, and you're likely to get several recurring names: Kershaw, Arrieta, Scherzer, Strasburg, Bumgarner, Cueto, Lester, Syndergaard, Fernandez.

All, of course, are excellent pitchers, all deserving of the recognition they receive. But how many voters are including Tanner Roark on their list?

"If they're not," Jayson Werth said, "they should."

Indeed, they should. Because facts are facts, and right now Roark is consistently pitching just as well as any other elite starter in the NL.

Tonight's 4-0 victory over the Phillies was only the latest example, but perhaps a good example why those who don't watch Roark on a regular basis might overlook the guy. He didn't necessarily dominate, tossing only a pair of 1-2-3 innings.

But look up at the end of the night, and all you saw were seven zeroes lined up in succession. Which seems to happen an awful lot for this right-hander.

This was the eighth time this season Roark has pitched seven or more scoreless innings, tops in the majors. Arrieta has done it seven times. No one else has done it more than five times.

Scan through the leaderboard in all the major pitching categories, and you'll find Roark among the top-10 in ERA, wins, innings and WAR.

Now consider that Roark is basically just duplicating his out-of-nowhere performance in 2014, when he went 15-10 with a 2.85 ERA, and you can't help but wonder why more outside of D.C. haven't taken notice.

"I don't think he really cares, really," manager Dusty Baker said. "We just want the victories. It would be fine if they didn't take notice, and then he can surprise them."

The Phillies have seen Roark enough over the last few years to not be surprised by anything he does. Not that a book on the right-hander made any difference tonight.

They did make him work a bit in the bottom of the first, forcing 24 pitches to only four batters. But Roark found his groove shortly after that and averaged only 12.7 pitchers per inning the rest of the way.

"I think after the first two innings, I started executing and really driving the ball in there instead of using my upper body," he said. "I used my legs as well. Everything felt in sync."

The Phillies never wound up putting more than one man on base in any inning. And both times they got a leadoff single, Roark immediately erased it with a double-play grounder. (Oh, he ranks second in the NL in that category, too, with 24.)

"I mean, he was sharp, threw up some key double plays," Baker said. "Those always help."

Roark was perhaps aided in part by a cool breeze blowing in from left field at Citizens Bank Park. Four of the outs he recorded came on flyballs to the warning track. Change the wind direction and maybe one or more of those balls leave the yard.

"It actually felt good having a little wind, some dead air for once," he said. "That was a good thing. Those balls were hit pretty well, but the wind kept them in."

With his starter's pitch count at 100, Baker decided not to push Roark any farther and turned to his bullpen to record the game's final six outs, which Marc Rzepczynski and Mark Melancon did without letting anybody reach base.

So by night's end, Roark was able to trot out to the center of the diamond and celebrate with the rest of his teammates. There was plenty of star power among him - Scherzer and Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy - but the man most responsible for this victory was the one with a 14-7 record, 2.87 ERA and more dominant starts than anyone in the NL this year.

If only more people realized it.

"It's coming," first baseman Clint Robinson said. "That's the way I think about it. He's still so young in his career, he's figured out what works for him. And I think you're going to see nothing but more attention coming his way. It's just a matter of time."