Luis Arraez’s Philadelphia Phillies (61-53) debut went about as well as you could draw it up with their new second baseman knocking in a pair of runs on a couple of hits to support Jesus Luzardo’s terrific effort in a 5-0 shutout of the Washington Nationals (55-60) on Tuesday night.
The new defensive alignment went smoothly on night
one, with Bryce Harper making four routine catches in right field and Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm playing mistake-free in their new posts at third and first base while all provided significant contributions at the plate.
Harper walked in each of his first two at bats, both times pushing Trea Turner into scoring position for Arraez.
Bohm hit a sacrifice fly to score Harper as part of the three-run third inning and tacked on another hit. Stott had two hits including a double.
Brandon Marsh capped off the big third with a double of his own.
Justin Crawford had two hits and scored courtesy of Turner’s third hit of the night to add an insurance run in the seventh inning.
The 8.0 innings pitched were Luzardo’s most in a start this season, though he only needed 98 pitches. He becomes the third Phillies’ starter to collect double-digit wins this year.
The unsung rider on the Arraez trade also made his Phillies debut as Caleb Kilian pitched a scoreless ninth inning to preserve Luzardo’s shutout.
Andrew Painter will look to build on his solid return from the minors and validate Dave Dombrowski’s optimism in him in game two of the series tomorrow night. Nats’ will go with Jake Irvin.
