GDT 8/27/18 Washington Nationals (Strasburg) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Eflin)

[kikutaro]

Rendon

Called strike (84.0 mph changeup)
Ball (77.7 mph curveball)
Swinging strike (85.0 mph changeup)
Ball (95.3 mph four-seam fastball)
Ball (78.0 mph curveball)
Ball (95.4 mph four-seam fastball)

Anthony Rendon walks.

[kikutaro]

Soto

Mound Visit.
Called strike (81.3 mph slider)
Called strike (81.1 mph slider)
Ball (79.6 mph slider)
With Juan Soto batting, wild pitch by Adam Morgan, Anthony Rendon to 2nd.

With Juan Soto batting, wild pitch by Adam Morgan, Anthony Rendon to 2nd.

[kikutaro]

Soto

Called strike (82.0 mph slider)

Juan Soto called out on strikes.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington Nationals	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	5	9	0
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1		3	6	1

---

Current Batters

Washington Nationals

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Eaton RF	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	.302	.383	.413	.796
Madson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Turner SS	5	0	1	1	0	2	0	.269	.337	.407	.744
Harper CF-RF	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	.249	.379	.504	.883
Rendon 3B	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	.294	.354	.494	.848
Soto LF	4	1	2	1	1	2	0	.293	.411	.507	.918
Zimmerman 1B	3	0	1	0	1	1	0	.256	.329	.507	.836
Wieters C	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.240	.320	.374	.694
Difo 2B	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	.241	.300	.363	.663
Strasburg P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.129	.182	.129	.311
Collins, T P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Taylor, M PH-CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231	.292	.365	.657

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Quinn CF	4	1	1	1	0	1	0	.350	.371	.533	.904
Hoskins LF	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	.257	.366	.505	.871
Hernández, C 2B	4	0	1	1	0	3	0	.259	.366	.364	.730
Ramos, W C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.311	.354	.516	.870
Cabrera, A SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.265	.314	.459	.773
Santana, C 1B	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.220	.349	.407	.756
Franco 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.274	.318	.482	.800
Williams, N RF	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	.262	.331	.444	.775
Eflin P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.111	.111	.194	.305
Avilán P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
García, L P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Knapp PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.216	.308	.352	.660
Morgan P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000

Current Pitchers

Washington Nationals

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Strasburg	6.0	5	2	2	3	5	0	99-56	4.15
Collins, T	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	12-8	2.76
Madson	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	1	11-7	5.28

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Eflin	5.1	8	5	3	2	5	1	102-68	3.99
Avilán	0.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	9-4	3.79
García, L	1.1	0	0	0	1	1	0	21-9	3.79
Morgan	2.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	35-18	4.08

[kikutaro]

Santana, C

Pitching Change: Justin Miller replaces Ryan Madson, batting 1st.
Ball (94.8 mph four-seam fastball)
Ball (94.6 mph four-seam fastball)
Foul (95.7 mph four-seam fastball)
Foul (94.9 mph four-seam fastball)
Foul (94.9 mph four-seam fastball)
In play, out(s) (94.6 mph four-seam fastball)

Carlos Santana grounds out to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

[kikutaro]

Franco

Foul (94.8 mph four-seam fastball)
Foul (93.8 mph four-seam fastball)
Ball (93.9 mph four-seam fastball)
Ball (94.4 mph four-seam fastball)
In play, out(s) (86.2 mph slider)

Maikel Franco grounds out, shortstop Trea Turner to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

[kikutaro]

Williams, N

In play, out(s) (93.0 mph four-seam fastball)

Nick Williams pops out to second baseman Wilmer Difo.

Null

[kikutaro]

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington Nationals	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	5	9	0
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	6	1

Final

---

Washington Nationals

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Eaton RF	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	.302	.383	.413	.796
Madson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Miller P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Turner SS	5	0	1	1	0	2	0	.269	.337	.407	.744
Harper CF-RF	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	.249	.379	.504	.883
Rendon 3B	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	.294	.354	.494	.848
Soto LF	4	1	2	1	1	2	0	.293	.411	.507	.918
Zimmerman 1B	3	0	1	0	1	1	0	.256	.329	.507	.836
Wieters C	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.240	.320	.374	.694
Difo 2B	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	.241	.300	.363	.663
Strasburg P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.129	.182	.129	.311
Collins, T P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Taylor, M PH-CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231	.292	.365	.657

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Quinn CF	4	1	1	1	0	1	0	.350	.371	.533	.904
Hoskins LF	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	.257	.366	.505	.871
Hernández, C 2B	4	0	1	1	0	3	0	.259	.366	.364	.730
Ramos, W C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.311	.354	.516	.870
Cabrera, A SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.265	.314	.459	.773
Santana, C 1B	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.220	.348	.406	.754
Franco 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.273	.317	.480	.797
Williams, N RF	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	.261	.330	.443	.773
Eflin P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.111	.111	.194	.305
Avilán P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
García, L P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Knapp PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.216	.308	.352	.660
Morgan P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000

Washington Nationals

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Strasburg (W, 7-7)	6.0	5	2	2	3	5	0	99-56	4.15
Collins, T (H, 3)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	12-8	2.76
Madson (H, 14)	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	1	11-7	5.28
Miller (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12-8	3.71

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Eflin (L, 9-5)	5.1	8	5	3	2	5	1	102-68	3.99
Avilán	0.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	9-4	3.79
García, L	1.1	0	0	0	1	1	0	21-9	3.79
Morgan	2.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	35-18	4.08

[ButlerBulldog]

Eflin has no one to blame but himself for this loss. Hoskins’ home run should have been the deciding factor; however, Eflin’s walks and throwing error made that impossible.

[LoneStarPhan]

Phillies continue to play poorly. Failure to make plays that should have been made turn what should have been a nice win into an ugly loss. Again.

Record now 70-61. Trending definitely down.

Now 3.5 games behind the Braves.

[EastFallowfield]

Was kinda hoping the Phils would entertain us up until football season, but that ship has sailed.

[LoneStarPhan]

It is still not too late to turn this around, but each game like this one makes it just a little harder. They do have those 7 games with the Braves in the final two weeks of the season, so they could really make big gains. Of course, they have not looked great against Atlanta and they could be knocked back close to or below .500 by that point, depending on how the next 3 weeks go.

[ButlerBulldog]

Was kinda hoping the Phils would entertain us up until football season, but that ship has sailed.

I wouldn’t go that far, but they are running out of time to make up ground. This is the fifth winnable game that they’ve lost in the past week alone. The only positive I take away from it is that I came up with derisive chant fans can use whenever Eflin makes a mistake: “Eflin f’ed up!” Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap! “Eflin f’ed up!”

[LoneStarPhan]

As I continue to think about this game, it occurs to me that had Eflin made both of the plays on balls hit to him in that 4th inning, he would have pitched out of the bases loaded, one out jam without giving up a run. Had he then gone on to win the game, we would be raving about his solid start. In fact, tonight, Eflin, in spite of too many walks, pitched okay. It was not making plays that should be made that was his, and thus the Phillies, downfall.

I just know the Phillies are going to turn this around, catch the Braves, and win the NL East. I have the same feeling I had in September, 1964. A couple losses, no problem. We will win the next game. After ten losses in a row, we did win the final two, only it was just a little too late.

But this time will be different.

[zambonir]

If they're five out on 9/2 that would not be good. 3-4 the sweet spot IMO. The wild card seems to be slipping away as well. But, it's baseball, who knows. The Braves' schedule gets tough for a while too. Gotta take these next two and then the Cubs will be a mighty interesting test.

I can't be disappointed though. This team has exceeded expectations in a major way, and they're in a pennant race despite so many obvious flaws, slumps and absences, with all kinds of pleasant surprises (Williams, Franco, most of the pitchers despite inconsistency) along the way. They'd be a much better defensive team if Santana and Herrera hadn't faltered in that regard and Crawford and Altherr had been able to be everyday players, for instance. Moving Hoskins was supposed to be alleviated by Santana's good defense and Herrera's great defense and instead Hoskins in LF (and, no doubt, Williams in RF) has made Herrera worse. But they aren't losing these games because of defense, exactly. They are losing them because the pitching and offense is no longer overcoming the bad defense.

[gmwannabe]

i wish i had your positiveness LSP. i think the fork has already been stuck in. would love to see it though.
gm

[Lawman]

Exactly that. But,especially given this past week, my expectations are very, very low - realistically I think they're done.

[andyb]

That is probably a good summary. We made conscious choices to add offense at the expense of defense and that was exacerbated by injuries or poor performance from players expected to be decent defenders (Altherr, Crawford, to some degree Kingery for not hitting).

Pitching was better than expected though the addition of Arrieta's innings and decent performance are underrated. But at some point we had no long track record with the 3 young starters at the back of our rotation.

That being said, I do think the team was not prepared as well as they could have been defensively. This means the team must evaluate when they shift, and maybe they are not considering double play potential in some of their aggressive shifts with a man on first. For the fielders they are not going to be physically better, but they clearly need some practice playing defense while being shifted to places they are not used to.

For next year we will continue to be poor defensively. They should be able to improve at SS and C, but fundamentally a lineup with Hoskins in the OF and average to below average players at other positions is just going to be a below average defense. Not sure there is a great solution other than score more runs and maybe hope Crawford or Kingery grows into at least an average defensive performer at SS.

[Philsmania]

That is probably a good summary. We made conscious choices to add offense at the expense of defense and that was exacerbated by injuries or poor performance from players expected to be decent defenders (Altherr, Crawford, to some degree Kingery for not hitting).

Pitching was better than expected though the addition of Arrieta's innings and decent performance are underrated. But at some point we had no long track record with the 3 young starters at the back of our rotation.

That being said, I do think the team was not prepared as well as they could have been defensively. This means the team must evaluate when they shift, and maybe they are not considering double play potential in some of their aggressive shifts with a man on first. For the fielders they are not going to be physically better, but they clearly need some practice playing defense while being shifted to places they are not used to.

For next year we will continue to be poor defensively. They should be able to improve at SS and C, but fundamentally a lineup with Hoskins in the OF and average to below average players at other positions is just going to be a below average defense. Not sure there is a great solution other than score more runs and maybe hope Crawford or Kingery grows into at least an average defensive performer at SS.

As long as Santana is here, we are going to have subpar defense, between him forcing Hoskins to the OF and him much-less-than-advertised defensively himself.

I would also add that Herrera's second half woes at the plate have metastasized to other aspects of his game, including defense.

[Philsmania]

If they're five out on 9/2 that would not be good. 3-4 the sweet spot IMO. The wild card seems to be slipping away as well. But, it's baseball, who knows. The Braves' schedule gets tough for a while too. Gotta take these next two and then the Cubs will be a mighty interesting test.

I can't be disappointed though. This team has exceeded expectations in a major way, and they're in a pennant race despite so many obvious flaws, slumps and absences, with all kinds of pleasant surprises (Williams, Franco, most of the pitchers despite inconsistency) along the way. They'd be a much better defensive team if Santana and Herrera hadn't faltered in that regard and Crawford and Altherr had been able to be everyday players, for instance. Moving Hoskins was supposed to be alleviated by Santana's good defense and Herrera's great defense and instead Hoskins in LF (and, no doubt, Williams in RF) has made Herrera worse. But they aren't losing these games because of defense, exactly. They are losing them because the pitching and offense is no longer overcoming the bad defense.

That's about my feeling too. My modest goal coming into the season was that they simply post a winning record, meaning that I saw them as an 82 to 84 win team at best. I am a little concerned that they may not be able to wring another 12 wins out of the season they way they have been playing lately but, most likely, they will. Hence, while it is disappointing to see them drop out of the race (which they haven't done so completely yet), I am not freaking out.

[schillingfan]

Was kinda hoping the Phils would entertain us up until football season, but that ship has sailed.

I wouldn’t go that far, but they are running out of time to make up ground. This is the fifth winnable game that they’ve lost in the past week alone. The only positive I take away from it is that I came up with derisive chant fans can use whenever Eflin makes a mistake: “Eflin f’ed up!” Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap! “Eflin f’ed up!”

I hope that chant makes you feel better because it's not going to help Eflin or the Phillies play better.