Washington Nationals’ lineup for the 2nd of 3 with the Philadelphia Phillies

Talking to reporters before last night’s game, Washington Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez said he wanted to pick up where his squad left off before the All-Star Break, when they won 28 of 39 games and fought their way back into both the NL East and Wild Card races.

“Like I say all the time, ‘It’s 1-0,” Martinez said.

“Let’s worry about today, focus on today, and then we go from there. Don’t look back.

“I tell the guys, now is the time not to look back, keep playing the way we’re playing and don’t worry about anybody but us.”

The Nationals made it 29 wins in the last 40 games with a 4-0 victory over the Phillies in the first of three in South Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park last night.

“I love the way they came out and played and I saw it in the clubhouse earlier today,” Martinez said after the win.

“They were upbeat, ready to go, and a lot of guys actually, after talking to them, actually did some baseball stuff and stretched [over the Break] and were prepared to come out and play today.”

They put up three runs early on Phillies’ starter Nick Pivetta, jumping out to a 3-0 lead with a walk and three hits in the second, capped off by Victor Robles’s two-run single, and back-to-back singles in the third, adding a run on a one-out sac fly/line drive to center field by Ryan Zimmerman that made it a three-run advantage.

“We talked a lot about seeing the ball up on him. He’s got a good breaking ball, so we want to get the ball up and stay in the middle of the field, and we got him early, he settled down, but we got enough points to get the lead,” Martinez said of the approach against Pivetta.

“I’m really proud of the way the guys came out and played the game today,” he added.

“They had intensity, they came early, we scored early and we played really well and we continue to just keep playing baseball.

“I preach this all the time with them, I said, ‘Take care of the here and now, and let’s worry about today and we go from there.”

So will the Nationals go 1-0 today?

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 2ND OF 3 WITH THE PHILLIES: