Tanner Roark struck out fifteen Minnesota Twins' batters in seven scoreless innings last time out on the mound before today's start in the series finale with the Philadelphia Phillies.
This afternoon in the nation's capital, the Washington Nationals' 29-year-old right-hander and Philly righty Aaron Nola went at it in another pitchers' duel, with Roark running two-seamers back in on unsuspecting hitters and Nola dropping his well-nigh unhittable curve on the Nationals' batters.
Roark threw seven scoreless on 99 pitches before he was done for the day, with Dusty Baker explaining before the game that they would limit him to some extent after Roark went up to a career-high 121 pitches against the Twins.
Tanner Roark's Line: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 99 P, 58 S, 8/3 GO/FO.
Nola cruised through seven efficient innings on just 77 pitches overall, before the Phillies hit for him in the top of the eighth.
Aaron Nola's Line: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 77 P, 54 S, 8/3 GO/FO.
Shawn Kelley threw a quick, scoreless eighth to keep it 0-0. Dalier Hinojosa issued a one-out walk to Pedro Severino and a took a two-out liner by Matt den Dekker off his wrist before he was lifted.
Elvis Araujo came on to face pinch hitter Anthony Rendon with two on and two out and issued a base-loading walk that brought Bryce Harper to the plate. Harper stepped in and went down swinging on three pitches, missing an 0-2 curve.
Still 0-0.
Felipe Rivero gave up a soft liner of a single by Odubel Herrera and a double to the base of the left field wall by Freddy Galvis in the first two at bat of the Phillies' ninth. An intentional walk to Maikel Franco loaded the bases.
Jonathan Papelbon came on trying to help the Nationals out of the jam vs pinch hitter Darin Ruf and struck him out with an 0-2 fastball up high, but Cameron Rupp hit a two-run double to right for a 2-0 lead and the Phillies added to their lead with a grounder back to the mound in what ended up a 3-0 win.
Jeanmar Gomez handled the ninth and the Phillies swept the three-game set.
Nationals now 14-7
• NATS NOTES:
- Bryce Harper started the day leading MLB hitters in HRs (tied for first w/ 9), RBIs (tied for 1st with 24) and second in the majors in SLG (.823).
- Harper is off to a hot start with runners on as well, going 10 for 21 with nine extra base hits with runners on early this season.
- Phillies' leadoff man Odubel Herrera walked twice last night, giving him 21 walks total on the year, good for the second-most in the majors, behind only the D-Backs' Paul Goldschmidt (23).
- In the process, Herrera extended his on-base streak to a 18-straight games. Herrera currently ranks second in the majors in pitchers per plate appearance, having seen 4.82 per PA, behind only Mike Napoli's 4.87. He extended it to a 19-game on-base streak with a leadoff walk in the first.
- Daniel Murphy went 1 for 3 last night, reaching base safely for the 17th time in his first 19 games with the Nationals. He'd reached base safely in 26 of 78 plate appearances heading into today's game.
- With the win last night, the Phillies went a game over .500 for the first time since April 11, 2015.
- The Phillies had the chance to sweep this three-game set with the Nationals with a win today. It would be their first sweep of a series over Washington since August 25-27, 2014.
- The Phillies are 6-1 in their last seven road games, after starting 0-4 away from Citizens Bank Park.
- Last night's win gave Philadelphia three straight over Washington, their first three-game winning streak against the Nationals since they won five-straight over the Nats from August 25-September 6th in 2014.
- Aaron Nola started the day (0-1) with a 7.80 ERA in three career starts vs the Nationals.
- Against Nola's curve, opposing hitters have a .153 AVG in 17 career starts.
- The Nationals' pitching staff, before today, led the NL and is second in the majors with a 2.31 combined ERA.
Nationals now 14-7