17: Nationals (Strasburg) @ Phillies (Hellickson)

julio 2017-04-09 20:58:58 UTC #41

Freddy Galvis bats...

takes low and in, 1-0
high, 2-0
low, 3-0
takes a strike, 3-1
base hit to right field. Nava to third, Galvis at first with a single! Still one away.

julio 2017-04-09 21:00:47 UTC #42

Brock Stassi stands in...

swing and a foul back, 0-1
foul, first base side, 0-2
popup, infield, taken by Daniel Murphy. No advance by the runners, two away.

julio 2017-04-09 21:04:15 UTC #43

César Hernández...

takes high - Galvis takes second on defensive indifference - 1-0
ground foul, 1-1
line single to left..Werth cannot get it!

Current Score: Phillies 4 , Nationals 3

Phils win!

PTOITWCFTPP!

Scoring Summary:
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	6	0
Phillies	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	7	0

Pitching Summary:
Nationals	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	Pitches	Strikes
Strasburg	7.0	5	3	3	3	8	105	69
Solis	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	13	6
Glover	0.2	2	1	1	1	0	21	10
Totals	8.2	7	4	4	5	8	139	85

Phillies	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	Pitches	Strikes
Hellickson	5.0	1	0	0	1	2	70	44
Benoit	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	16	11
Neshek	0.2	1	0	0	1	0	15	7
Neris	1.1	0	0	0	1	2	19	11
Gomez	1.0	3	3	3	1	1	30	18
Totals	9.0	6	3	3	4	6	150	91

LoneStarPhan 2017-04-09 21:05:18 UTC #44

AAll 3 pitches to Stassi were out of the strike zone. He swing at all three. Glover trying to give away the game but Stassi didn't cooperate

Good thing Hernandez picked him up

EastFallowfield 2017-04-09 21:07:17 UTC #45

**Had 'em all the way, Harry! **

Lucky_Beagle 2017-04-09 21:30:18 UTC #46

Gomez has got to go. At this point I don't care if he is removed from the roster altogether. He should not get to close another game this season.
Stassi is batting himself out of the majors. He better hope his defense keeps him around long enough to the bat in gear at this level.
Too bad for the both with the injury (hopefully minor and he is back) and not getting a win when it was there for the taking.

2 of 3 from the Nats good anytime!
Time didn't give up at any point on offense and came back to win it when they could have been down/

Les229 2017-04-09 21:32:58 UTC #47

I think it happened during his warm up. I don't think I have ever seen that before.

LoneStarPhan 2017-04-09 21:42:45 UTC #48

It's great to see this team not quiting when things are not going well. Way to come right back after blowing a comfortable lead.

A great win to get back to .500 and a tie in the standings with Washington.

First series win of the season especially sweet coming against Washington.

Outstanding pitching again from Hellickson although we need him, and all the starters, going 7 innings. Five innings is just too hard on the pen. We have to hope is is okay and ready for his next start. Again, pitch count was not that high.

I think Gomez should be moved out of the closer role. We will see what Mac does. I appreciate loyalty but I think he is not doing Gomez a favor keeping him closing. Let him get some work in less stressful innings. He can still be a part of a solid bullpen.

I hope Stairs or someone talk with Stassi. He swung at all 3 pitches in his at bat and all 3 were outside the strike zone box according to MLB. The first three hitters in the inning started off with counts of
Nava 4-0
Knapp 2-0
Galvis 3-0
Stassi has to take until at least one pitch is called a strike.

Philsmania 2017-04-09 21:46:50 UTC #49

Perhaps Stassi just needs to get that first big leagle hit and that will help him relax. Looks like he's pressing a bit.

Mack's loyalty to Gomez is getting ridiculous.

tom81 2017-04-09 21:53:45 UTC #50

I'm having so much fun watching Freddy and Caesar carry this team!

LoneStarPhan 2017-04-09 22:13:55 UTC #51

Hernandez and Galvis - the two so many are waiting to replace.

Speaking of that first hit for Stassi reminds me of the game he started in Cincinnati.. I was listening to the Reds radio broadcast on XM radio. Late in the game, Joseph batted and they mentioned that he had come in to play first in a double switch. Next inning, Stassi's spot came up (Blanco pinch hit for the pitcher) but they called him Stassi the entire at bat. Blanco got a hit. They announced "first major league hit" for Stassi and couldn't understand why the ball wasn't collected for him. They went to some length talking about his brother being in the minors, etc. Later in the inning they announced that Blanco was pinch running for Stassi.

Don't believe everything announcers say, but know that there are Reds' fans who think he got that first hit in Cincinnati.

zambonir 2017-04-09 23:51:19 UTC #52

I mean, it's been less than a week. I think he knew this is probably how it would go down, but when your GM signs off on the $4.2 million (instead of a non-tender or inconsequential trade) and you believe it's a good message to send to your veterans/incumbents, giving him enough rope made sense. Once it happens, he's going to sink a lot further down the pecking order than just set-up man (Neris presumably closes but Benoit and Neshek will end up as the 7th/8th options).

Mackanin had hoped Gomez's command would be closer to what it was last April through August but it hasn't been. He wanted to begin the season with Gomez closing because he felt he couldn't go back to Gomez if someone else failed early in the season.

VoteForKalas 2017-04-10 00:52:07 UTC #53

Good win, Phillies

Thank you, Julio, for the PBP

Austinfan 2017-04-10 01:56:07 UTC #54

Benoit should be the closer.
Work Neris in as he gets more confident in his splitter.
And give Ramos a few shots over the course of the season.

Gomez was always a 6th/7th inning pitcher. He had one hot/lucky streak, but lightning rarely strikes twice.

bkeich 2017-04-10 02:05:53 UTC #55

Mackinnin needs to start to understand that jobs are not guarantees. He needs to make a move or the Phillies need to find someone that will.

Good news, by (barely) getting the last out Gomez lowered his ERA this year to 15.00. That is better than the 19.13 he put up in September last year. Just watching him pitch we are lucky that this wasnt a loss, he was throwing batting practice pitches and somehow Eaton missed them.

LoneStarPhan 2017-04-10 07:15:47 UTC #56

While Stassi is looking for that first hit, he carries a .429 OBP based on 3 walks. I am sure a hit or two will give him a lift, but with only 4 at bats so far this season, I don't think it is time to worry yet.

The poor showing from Gomez is also a small sample, but coupled with his horrendous performance last September, it seems clear that a change must be made.

bkeich 2017-04-10 13:30:09 UTC #57

What is worse is the way he is doing it. Relievers can always have bad stats in a small sample just because of the small number of innings (e.g. he only had 8 2/3 last September), but when you watch he is throwing very hittable pitches right down the middle or in "hitter" locations. The pitch to Zimmerman looked like something that would be thrown in a HR derby, honestly any ML hitter could have hit that out. It should have been a loss if you look at the pitches Eaton missed, they were basically dream pitches for a ML hitter, he just missed them.

Gomez needs to move to a lower leverage situation and let him figure things out. He is still one of the 7 best relievers we have, but he isnt one of the 3 best. Releasing him would be an overreaction in my opinion until he can prove he cannot perform in lower leverage situations. We really only have 1 other viable reliever on the 40 man, so I don't want to waste that until injuries or extreme poor performance force it. I doubt they can DL Gomez and send him to the minors since it does not seem to be an injury thing, I am guessing it is some bad luck, just reality of his "stuff" coupled with "getting in his head".

HopeSpringsEternal 2017-04-10 18:14:15 UTC #58

I thought Gomez looked pretty sharp on Friday when he pitched a clean 9th inning against the Nationals (trailing 7-4 at that point). He struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced with either a sharp breaking change up or a slider. He has very little margin for error. I understand the short leash on him at this point, but I'm hopeful that he still has some value as a late inning reliever this year, even if not the 9th inning.

Les229 2017-04-10 21:12:43 UTC #59

Has anyone heard how Hellickson is?

LoneStarPhan 2017-04-10 21:37:37 UTC #60