Game 103: Phillies at Nats

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Craig Stammen faces Roy Oswalt in his Phillies debut tonight.

There is still a game to be played tonight, and a depleted Nationals team that is without Matt Capps and Cristian Guzman and will be playing with a 24-man roster faces a stiff challenge against the Phillies and the pitcher they just acquired yesterday: Roy Oswalt.

The Nats actually have had recent success against Oswalt. In three head-to-head starts over the last two years, he's 0-1 with a 7.43 ERA. That includes a 2 1/3-inning start in May in which Oswalt was ejected. So perhaps the Nationals have a slight advantage against a really tough right-hander.

Check back here for updates throughout the game, and please check the other posts for Guzman, Dunn and other trade-related news...

PHILLIES at NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: WFED-1500 AM, WWFD-820 AM
Weather: Mostly sunny, 83 degrees, Wind 5 mph LF to RF

STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS (44-58)
CF Nyjer Morgan
2B Adam Kennedy
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam Dunn
LF Josh Willingham
RF Roger Bernadina
C Ivan Rodriguez
SS Ian Desmond
P Craig Stammen

PHILLIES (56-46)
SS Jimmy Rollins
2B Placido Polanco
LF Raul Ibanez
1B Ryan Howard
CF Jayson Werth
RF Domonic Brown
3B Greg Dobbs
C Carlos Ruiz
P Roy Oswalt

5:35 p.m. -- Miss Iowa is here, by the way, on the field for batting practice wearing a red Nationals jersey and schmoozing with Stan Kasten, Mark Lerner and others. As if there wasn't enough else going on today.

6:48 p.m. -- As you might expect, there are A LOT of Phillies fans here. Roy Oswalt was serenaded with some rousing cheers when he made his way to the bullpen to warm up. Probably going to be like this all weekend, especially with Strasburg no longer pitching Sunday.

6:52 p.m. -- Here's my full story on Guzman and Dunn on CSNwashington.com.

6:53 p.m. -- Oh, and the moment everyone was waiting for -- Miss Iowa's first pitch to Miguel Batista -- went off without a hitch. Not a bad throw from Katherine Connors. For a girl, of course.

7:06 p.m. -- And we're underway with a ball from Craig Stammen to Jimmy Rollins. Gorgeous, 82 degree night here, best we've had in a long time.

7:10 p.m. -- Nice first inning for Stammen, who has had problems out of the gate in the past. He allowed a two-out single to Raul Ibanez but otherwise sharp and threw eight of his 11 pitches for strikes. Roy Oswalt now taking the mound for the first time as a Phillie.

7:18 p.m. -- Wow, the Nats came out firing against Oswalt, and it paid off. Nyjer Morgan smoked the first pitch of Oswalt's Phillies career to right-center for a triple -- he's now hitting .310 (35-for-113) over his last 28 games -- then scored moments later on Adam Kennedy's groundout. Adam Dunn also sent a long single to right. After one, the Nats lead 1-0.

7:25 p.m. -- Stammen is just pounding the strike zone here early on. Through two innings, he's thrown 13 of 17 pitches for strikes and has gone to a 2-ball count only once. That was on Domonic Brown, who still struck out looking at an inside fastball.

7:39 p.m. -- Oswalt's first at-bat: Base hit to right. No wait. Roger Bernadina guns him down at first. Yeah, it's a 9-3 groundout.

7:50 p.m. -- Make it 3-0 Nats thanks to an absolutely horrendous defensive play by the Phillies that for a moment made you think you were watching the Nats instead. With runners on first and second, Adam Kennedy dropped a bunt right in front of the plate. Carlos Ruiz had an easy throw to third to force out Stammen. Except third baseman Greg Dobbs was right next to him. No one was covering third. So the ball sailed into left field and Stammen scored. A Ryan Zimmerman sac fly added another run, putting the Nats up 3-0 after three.

8:01 p.m. -- Looks like "Good Craig Stammen" showed up tonight. He's tossed four scoreless so far, striking out four, including Ryan Howard once and Domonic Brown twice.

8:40 p.m. -- It is now 5-0 Nats after 5 1/2 innings, thanks to Josh Willingham's two-run double and another scoreless inning from Stammen, who at this point is tossing a three-hit shutout. Oswalt, meanwhile, now owns the following stats in his last four starts against the Nationals: 16 earned runs allowed in 18 1/3 innings. Clearly, Mike Rizzo should have taken Steve Phillips' advice and traded Strasburg for Oswalt.

8:58 p.m. -- Stammen finally succumbed in the seventh and allowed a leadoff homer to Jayson Werth followed by a single to Domonic Brown. But Tyler Clippard entered and got out of the inning without any other damage, so the lead remains 5-1 at the seventh-inning stretch. Now the question is: Who closes for the Nats tonight? I say it's probably Drew Storen. But what if Ibanez and Howard are due up? Would Riggleman actually go with Sean Burnett or even Atahualpa Severino (hoping to catch the Phillies off guard)? We'll see.

9:13 p.m. -- Then again, the Nats aren't going to need a closer at this rate. It's now 8-1 thanks to Roger Bernadina's two-run double and Ian Desmond's sac fly. Quite a performance tonight from the home team.

9:16 p.m. -- BREAKING NEWS: Adam Dunn was just pulled from the game! Oh my god! He must have been traded! ... Or perhaps Riggleman is simply making the same late defensive change he always does with the Nats leading.

9:23 p.m. -- If you didn't catch my sarcasm with that last post, I didn't honestly believe Dunn had just been traded. Of course it was just a move for defense. Plus they're up 8-1 in the eighth. Might as well give him a breather.

9:31 p.m. -- Here's something you won't see too often: Collin Balester pitching the ninth inning against the Phillies with the Nats holding the lead.

9:38 p.m. -- That's it. Nats win, 8-1. An impressive showing all around. Stammen improves to 3-4. Oswalt falls to 6-13, 0-1 with his new team.