Three pitches into Dan Haren's return to the Washington Nationals' rotation there were two Philadelphia Phillies on after Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins jumped on the Nats' starter early in his return from the DL tonight in Citizens Bank Park. A successful double steal put both runners in scoring position, but Haren got Chase Utley swinging with a diving 1-2 cutter for out no.1 of the top of the first. Domonic Brown sent a hotshot back to the mound in the next at bat, however, and it bounced off Haren's ankle for an RBI infield single that dribbled over toward first base. 1-0 Phillies. Brown moved to second on a wild pitch and Michael Young walked to load the bases on Haren's 14th pitch of the inning. A 1-2 cutter from Haren got Delmon Young swinging for out and K no.2, but Darin Ruf, playing first tonight after Ryan Howard went on the DL with a meniscus tear, worked the count full and walked on a full-count cutter outside. 2-0 Phillies after one. 25-pitch, two walk, 2 K first for Dan Haren.
Jayson Werth beat a throw from Michael Young to first on a slow one-out roller down the third base line, but a flyout to center from Adam LaRoche and swinging K by Anthony Rendon followed the infield single and John Lannan had two scoreless vs the Nats after a 22-pitch top of the second. Dan Haren got a called strike three on Lannan for the first out of the Phillies' second. Ben Revere was 2 for 2 vs Haren tonight after he lined a 1-1 splitter to right for a one-out single. Ian Desmond dove for a hard-hit, low, one-hop liner to short off Jimmy Rollins bat, popped up and threw to first for out no.2 of the home-half of the second and Chase Utley flew to left to end a 17-pitch frame by Haren.
John Lannan got his fourth ground ball out of the night from Wilson Ramos in the first at bat of the third. After Dan Haren flew to right, Denard Span grounded to second for groundout no.5 in 3.0 scoreless innings by the former Nationals' left-hander. Domonic Brown walked to start the Phillies' third. Michael Young lined a 2-2 two-seam fastball to center for the Phillies' fourth hit off the Nats' right-hander. Haren threw a late breaking 1-2 cutter off the plate and got Delmon Young to chase for the first out of the frame, and went back to it to get Darin Ruf swinging for out no.2. A fly to right by Carlos Ruiz ended a 20-pitch inning that had Haren up to 62 after three.
Bryce Harper walked with one down in the Nats' fourth, but he got thrown out trying to steal second when he slid in late and awkwardly and was tagged out a pitch before Ryan Zimmerman singled to center field. Jayson Werth walked two put two on for Adam LaRoche, but the Nats' first baseman's groundout to second ended John Lannan's fourth scoreless frame. When Dan Haren retired the Phillies in order in an 11-pitch frame, he'd set six Phillies in a row down. 73 overall after four.
Anthony Rendon popped up to Darin Ruf in foul territory off first to start the top of the fifth. A fly to right by Wilson Ramos gave John Lannan two quick outs on four pitches. Dan Haren battled the Phillies' lefty for five pitches before he grounded out to short to end a nine-pitch, 1-2-3 inning. 2-0 Phillies after four and a half. Dan Haren got his seventh straight out from Chase Utley, who flew to center to start the bottom of the inning. A fly to right by Domonic Brown made it eight-straight retired, but Michael Young buzzed Haren's tower with a two-out line drive single to center for the Philllies' sixth hit of the game off the Nats' starter. Delmon Young was up next, and after striking out twice in his first two at bats, he lined to right with two down to second Michael Young around to third with Darin Ruf due up, but Haren got Ruf swinging to end the bottom of the inning with the score still 2-0 Philadelphia. A 22-pitch inning left Haren at 95.
Bryce Harper singled through the right side of the infield with two down for the Nationals' third hit of the game off John Lannan, but Ryan Zimmerman's groundout to short ended John Lannan's sixth scoreless frame. 90 pitches total for the Phillies' lefty. Fernando Abad took over for the Nationals in the sixth, ending Dan Haren's night after: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 Ks, 95 P, 59 S, 3/4 GO/FO. Abad was on top of a bunt attempt by Carlos Ruiz, and he got Lannan swinging for out no.2 before Ben Revere doubled on a sharp liner by third and into the corner in left. Jimmy Rollins' two-out single in the next at bat brought Revere around, just ahead of a strong throw in by Jayson Werth, and the Phillies took a 3-0 lead on the Nats after six.
Jayson Werth's groundout was the 10th of the night recorded by John Lannan, who was up to 97 pitches when he got a fly to left from Adam LaRoche for the second out of the top of the seventh and 100 even when Anthony Rendon flew to center to end the frame. Ross Ohlendorf threw a 14-pitch, 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh in Citizens Bank.
Wilson Ramos rolled one out to third on John Lannan's 101st pitch, giving the Phillies' lefty 11 ground ball outs on the night. Steve Lombardozzi stepped in with one down and bunted his way on with a roller to third that Michael Young let roll hoping it would go foul. No such luck. Denard Span grounded into a force at second for Lannan's 12th ground ball out and he threw an 0-2 fastball by Ian Desmond up high to complete his eighth scoreless inning against his former team. Ross Ohlendorf came back out and retired the Phillies in order in the bottom of the inning, at which point the home team turned to their closer...
Jonathan Papelbon came out for the top of the ninth after 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 109 P, 71 S, 12/5 GO/FO from John Lannan. Bryce Harper battled for six pitches and singled up the middle for a leadoff hit. Ryan Zimmerman took a 1-1 fastball to deep right-center and off the out-of-town scoreboard for a ninth-inning double that put runners on second and third, and Jayson Werth's sac fly to deep center brought Harper in from third. 3-1 Phillies. Adam LaRoche flew to short center for the second-straight sac fly, 3-2, but Chad Tracy flew out to end it. Ballgame. 3-2 Phillies.
Nationals now 46-43