The Washington Nationals beat the Phillies 4-1 on Monday after first pitch was pushed back 1 hour and 32 minutes by weather. Philadelphia struck out 12 times and could not turn two Washington throwing errors into enough runs to change the outcome.
James Wood Starts the Fast Start
Washington opened with James Wood’s leadoff double in the first inning, then Dylan Crews singled him in for the game’s first run. That set the tone before the Phillies ever settled into the night, and it left the visitors chasing from the opening frame.
The next punch came in the second inning when Luis Garcia Jr. homered off Alan Rangel after he entered the game. Foster Griffin handled the rest from the other side, and the Nationals kept the Phillies from stringing together the kind of contact that could have erased the early gap.
Alan Rangel Holds Up
Rangel was the other central figure. Called up ahead of the game, he allowed one earned run over five total innings, gave up five hits, struck out four and walked none. Three of those strikeouts came on his changeup, and he said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello, “First of all, I’m very thankful, and I want to thank the team for giving me this opportunity, thankful to God for being here, and I’ll just focus on pitching the way I’ve been pitching now,” then added, “And focus on keeping it going from tonight.”
Don Mattingly liked what he saw. “That was good to see,” he said after Rangel’s outing. “He had a little bit of traffic, but he seemed to work out of it, and it didn’t rattle him at all. Kept throwing strikes, so we like that.” The Phillies expect to use him in the fifth starter spot going forward, a role that becomes more important after Andrew Painter was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley last week.
Phillies Leave Chances Behind
The Phillies did get a solo home run from Brandon Marsh in the seventh inning, and it was their only run. Rafael Marchán singled to lead off the third inning, Derek Hill doubled to lead off the fifth, and neither inning produced enough damage to close the game before Marsh’s homer.
That was the pattern all night. Philadelphia struck out 12 times and finished 0-for-14 in the spots that mattered most, while Washington’s two throwing errors never turned into a sustained rally. Mattingly summed up the missed opportunities this way: “Just the mix and match for us, we didn’t seem to do enough with him,” and, “Got ahead in the count, two strikes, variety of basically breaking balls for the lefties. Kept our righties off-balance for the most part. Just kept pitching.”
