The Washington Nationals failed to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies on May 6,
losing by the score of 9-3. Cole Hamels of the Phillies picked up his
fourth win of the year while Jordan Zimmermann had his third loss.
Jordan Zimmermann
Zimmermann pitched a solid game on May 6, going six innings while giving up three runs on seven hits along with one strikeout. He was simply outpitched by Cole Hamels, who went eight innings and gave up only one run to go with eight strikeouts. It is the second straight loss for Jordan, who gave up four runs in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in his previous start, but he has certainly pitched well enough to be 3-1 and not 1-3; the offense for the team has just failed to score runs whenever he has been on the mound this year, but I expect it to turn around sooner or later.
Jayson Worth
The Nationals suffered the biggest blow of the game in the sixth inning, when Jayson Werth broke his wrist sliding for a ball in the outfield. Even though Werth hasn't been playing that great in 2012, the last thing the Nationals needed was for another person to be injured, as Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche, and Michael Morse have all had spent time on the bench this early in the season. Hopefully Xavier Nady or Roger Bernadina can step up their game to fill in for Werth, but either way one looks at it, the Nationals will need to continue their stellar pitching to stay in games over the coming weeks.
Another series win
Even with the negative news, there are still some positives to take out of the series against the Phillies. The Nationalswon two out of three games, making it the third straight series won against an opponent from the National League East and the fourth win in five games for the ball club. Also, even though both Stephen Lombardozzi and Rick Ankiel failed to get a hit in the last game of the series, both hit well over .300 overall, with Stephen going 6 for 15 and Rick 6 for 12 at the plate. The Nationals will need production from these two going forward, and hopefully they can continue providing it as the team goes on to face the Pittsburgh Pirates next.
Jordan Zimmermann
Zimmermann pitched a solid game on May 6, going six innings while giving up three runs on seven hits along with one strikeout. He was simply outpitched by Cole Hamels, who went eight innings and gave up only one run to go with eight strikeouts. It is the second straight loss for Jordan, who gave up four runs in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in his previous start, but he has certainly pitched well enough to be 3-1 and not 1-3; the offense for the team has just failed to score runs whenever he has been on the mound this year, but I expect it to turn around sooner or later.
Jayson Worth
The Nationals suffered the biggest blow of the game in the sixth inning, when Jayson Werth broke his wrist sliding for a ball in the outfield. Even though Werth hasn't been playing that great in 2012, the last thing the Nationals needed was for another person to be injured, as Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche, and Michael Morse have all had spent time on the bench this early in the season. Hopefully Xavier Nady or Roger Bernadina can step up their game to fill in for Werth, but either way one looks at it, the Nationals will need to continue their stellar pitching to stay in games over the coming weeks.
Another series win
Even with the negative news, there are still some positives to take out of the series against the Phillies. The Nationalswon two out of three games, making it the third straight series won against an opponent from the National League East and the fourth win in five games for the ball club. Also, even though both Stephen Lombardozzi and Rick Ankiel failed to get a hit in the last game of the series, both hit well over .300 overall, with Stephen going 6 for 15 and Rick 6 for 12 at the plate. The Nationals will need production from these two going forward, and hopefully they can continue providing it as the team goes on to face the Pittsburgh Pirates next.
Ryan Kekoufski lives near the Nationals' stadium and has been
following the team ever since they moved to Washington D.C. He covers
sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and currently resides in
Virginia
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