The Nationals showed all of the heart and desire, but just did not do enough offensively to get over the line in Philly. While the Nats lost 3-2 tonight, they played well and hung in there despite not having a great offensive performance. It went right down to the wire with James Wood’s line drive being just within Brandon Marsh’s reach to end the game.
Unlike last night, the Nats did not have their A game. Andrew Painter was having his way with the Nats lineup in his MLB debut and Zack Littell looked like a guy who signed midway through Spring Training. However, the Nats hung in there and made the Phillies work for their win.
Not rolling over when things don’t go well early is something I love to see from the Nats. While the game never got out of hand, the Phillies always felt in control. However, the Nats were always hanging around and made a valiant comeback attempt.
The Nats actually started this game with an opener. While the concept of an opener has been around for a while now, it is not something the Nats have deployed often. With Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper at the top of the Phillies lineup, Blake Butera wanted a lefty to deal with them in the first inning. That is why he turned to PJ Poulin, who fired off a 1-2-3 inning on just nine pitches. He also made a nice defensive play.
After that, the Nats new signing Zack Littell came into the game. He had an up and down outing. His velocity was up from where it had been in the spring, but his execution was still not perfect. He gave up a pair of solo homers to Kyle Schwarber and Adolis Garcia. It was not a flashy performance by any means, but Littell did go 5 innings while allowing three runs. That is a decent showing for the Nats new right hander.
However, with the Nats offense struggling to hit for impact, those three runs were all the Phillies needed. Andrew Painter made his MLB debut and showed why he is seen as a top prospect. His heater sat at 97 MPH and he mixed in a few secondary pitches as well. Painter looked like a guy who will be pitching in the big leagues for a long time.
The one guy who did see Painter well was Daylen Lile. For the day, he went three for four and did not get out against Painter. Lile is such a pure hitter and is continuing what he did in September of last year. Right now, he is mostly hitting singles, but those extra base hits are coming. Lile is the best hitter on the team.
Overall, I loved the spirit and tenacity the Nats played with, even in a losing effort. Tonight was a loss that you could accept because you could see the team fight to the bitter end. There are some nights where the Nats just don’t have the talent to get over the line yet. This team does not have a Kyle Schwarber type slugger who can swat homers at will. Maybe James Wood gets there one day, but he is not there yet.
You can question the talent on the roster, but one thing you cannot question about this team right now is their compete level. I can see them fighting out there, which is not something you could say often last year, especially down the stretch. It is nice to watch a fun team. Hopefully they can repeat what they did in Chicago and win the first and third games of the series.
