PHILADELPHIA – The Washington Nationals’ lucky break steamrolled them Sunday afternoon. The Philadelphia Phillies scratched Cole Hamels from his start after he came down with the flu Saturday, which convinced the Nationals the world had done them a favor. Rather than one of baseball’s most accomplished lefties, they would face Roberto Hernandez, a journeyman who lugged a 5.74 ERA to the mound.
In the Nationals’ 1-0 loss at Citizens Bank Park, Hernandez made clear the Nationals had run into something far different than luck. He fired 71/ 3 scoreless innings as the Nationals wasted Gio Gonzalez’s dazzling start, cost themselves another opportunity to overtake the scuffling Atlanta Braves and accepted a series loss in the first meeting with the Phillies.
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Once Hernandez exited, the Nationals stranded the tying run on third base in the eighth and succumbed to closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. They managed just five hits, all of them singles, two of them off Denard Span’s bat. Gonzalez absorbed the loss even though he allowed one run on four hits in 7 1/ 3 innings himself.
For the second straight game, the Nationals missed a chance to move into first place. The season’s first month, plus the first few days of May, has settled nothing in the National League East. The Braves still lead despite six consecutive losses, but they are barely holding off all four challengers. The Braves’ record tumbled to 17-13. Every other team has a winning record and is within 1 ½ games.
Gonzalez may have been great, but he wasn’t immune to the Nationals’ first-inning struggles. With one out, Jimmy Rollins hammered a high fastball to the left-center field gap. The ball bounced around the small triangle-shaped fence, and Rollins scooted to third for a triple. Chase Utley followed with a grounder through the middle, giving the Nationals yet another early deficit. Gonzalez stopped the damage, but the Nationals have allowed 32 runs in 31 first innings this year.
The Nationals’ best chance to score against Hernandez came in the first. Hernandez walked two, yielded a single and threw only eight of 20 pitches for strikes. But their aggression on the bases cost them. Kevin Frandsen drew a one-out walk. Jayson Werth followed with a smash to third base. The ball deflected off Jayson Nix and trickled into shallow left.
Frandsen’s hell-bent base running has sparked the Nationals, and he tried another bold play by bolting for third. John Mayberry Jr.’s throw beat his headfirst dive into third base, though, and he had run into the second out. With two outs and two on after Adam LaRoche walked, Anthony Rendon grounded to third.
Once Hernandez escaped the first inning, he dominated. The Nationals either pounded his heavy sinkers into the ground or lined them into gloves. At one point, Hernandez retired 15 of 17 Nationals, including 10 straight.
As Hernandez cruised, Gonzalez matched him. He allowed only two more hits after the two he yielded in the first inning. He struck out seven, walked two and retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced, lowering his ERA to 2.91.
The Nationals’ chance in the eighth fizzled. Denard Span led off the eighth inning with a single. Even after the count ran to 2-0 in Frandsen’s favor, Manager Matt Williams kept the bunt on. Frandsen dropped a sacrifice and pushed Span, the tying run, to second. Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg pulled Hernandez and called on Mike Adams.
Adams induced a groundout from Jayson Werth, which left the inning to Adam LaRoche. Sandberg summoned left-hander Antonio Bastardo, who promptly walked LaRoche.
Sandberg’s maneuvering had led to a nightmare matchup for the Phillies. No other reliever was ready to face Anthony Rendon, who walked to the plate hitting .481 against left-handed pitchers this season. Still, Rendon watched strike three, a sinker that catcher Carlos Ruiz may have yanked over the plate from outside the corner. The tying run withered 90 feet away.