Game 49: Phillies at Nats

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Dan Haren faces Jonathan Pettibone tonight at Nationals Park.

After a solid, 5-2 victory last night to open their homestand, the Nationals are sticking with their same lineup for the middle game of this weekend series against the Phillies. Might as well stick with what worked, including Kurt Suzuki in the 6-spot, with Tyler Moore and Steve Lombardozzi behind him.

That lineup tonight will go up against right-hander Jonathan Pettibone, seeking to become the Phillies' first rookie to go 4-0 to begin his career since Kyle Kendrick (last night's starter) in 2007. Dan Haren gets the nod for the Nationals, hoping his ragged outing in San Diego was a mere blip on an otherwise upward trend for the veteran.

Jeff Kobernus, meanwhile, officially had his contract purchased from Class AAA Syracuse and is available off the bench. Yunesky Maya has officially been designated for assignment, possibly ending his four-year tenure in the Nationals organization.

Remember: Tonight's game is on Fox. It'll be Tom McCarthy and Bill Ripken with the call. So that's a Phillies play-by-ply guy and a former Oriole. Enjoy...

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: Fox regional (coverage map)
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 89
Weather: Clear, 65 degrees, Wind 18 mph LF to RF

NATIONALS (25-23)
CF Denard Span
RF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
C Kurt Suzuki
LF Tyler Moore
2B Steve Lombardozzi
RHP Dan Haren

PHILLIES (23-25)
SS Jimmy Rollins
2B Freddy Galvis
3B Michael Young
1B Ryan Howard
RF Delmon Young
LF Domonic Brown
C Erik Kratz
CF Ben Revere
RHP Jonathan Pettibone

UMPIRES
HP Tim Timmons
1B Mike Winters (cc)
2B Mark Wegner
3B Laz Diaz

7:15 p.m. — We are underway on another chilly late-May night in D.C. Great crowd on hand, possibly a sellout, as Dan Haren delivers his first pitch to Jimmy Rollins.

7:20 p.m. — And that's a 1-2-3, 14-pitch top of the first for Haren. He struck out both Freddy Galvis and Michael Young and was in control throughout. Solid start to his evening. Here come the Nats to face Jonathan "Don't Call Me Richie" Pettibone.

7:30 p.m. — Well, the bottom of the first got off to a good start, with Denard Span working the count full and then driving a single to right. And then it all fell apart. Bryce Harper struck out on an impressive changeup from Pettibone. Span was thrown out trying to steal second, with a pinpoint missile from Erik Kratz from his knees. And Ryan Zimmerman watched strike three sail by to end the inning. So it's scoreless as we move to the second.

7:39 p.m. — Wow, what a bizarre top of the second for Haren. He struck out Ryan Howard and Delmon Young, giving him four straight Ks, all swinging. And then Domonic Brown and Erik Kratz homered on consecutive pitches. Brown crushed a hanging curveball to right, Kratz took the first pitch he saw to left-center. Then Haren went out and struck out Ben Revere to end the inning. So, to recap: Haren has faced eight batters so far. He's struck out five, given up homers to two and retired the other batter on a flyout. That will kind of screw up your BABIP, right? Phillies lead 2-0 heading to the bottom of the second.

7:56 p.m. — Tyler Moore: Not a natural left fielder. As we just saw in unsightly fashion. Galvis sent a deep fly to left-center. Both Moore and Span had a bead on it, but Moore was closer and called off Span. The ball hit his glove ... and fell to the ground for a two-base error. That's generally why you defer to the center fielder on such plays. Fortunately, Haren pitched around the error and got through the third. So it's still 2-0 Phillies.

8:12 p.m. — Nice rally from the Nats in the bottom of the third, though it probably should have produced more than one run. With two on and one out, Zimmerman crushed a line drive to center, unfortunately right at Revere for the second out. LaRoche did follow with an RBI single up the middle, and Desmond followed by drawing a walk to load the bases for Suzuki. With Petibone on the ropes, the Nats seemed to have a golden opportunity to do some real damage. Except Suzuki check-swung at the first pitch and tapped a weak grounder to first base to kill the rally. Dagger. Nats trail 2-1 after three.

8:19 p.m. — A season-high seven strikeouts for Haren now in only four innings. The only blemishes on his evening: Those back-to-back homers. Still 2-1 Phillies.

8:32 p.m. — Wow, Span just missed a two-run homer into the second deck (yes, a homer into the second deck) by a couple of feet. Oh well, he'll happily take his subsequent RBI single to right-center, tying this game 2-2. Span is now 3-for-3 tonight, putting on quite a show.

8:43 p.m. — Oh, those two-out doubles by the opposing pitcher. They'll kill you every time. Haren is not happy with himself after giving that one up to Pettibone, followed by another double to Rollins. That puts the Phillies back on top, 3-2, as we move to the bottom of the fifth.

8:48 p.m. — Adam LaRoche to the rescue. Opposite-field bomb off Pettibone in the bottom of the fifth, tying this game back up at 3-3. Several Nats have really started to hit the ball hard the last few innings, though they don't have as much to show for it as they'd like.

8:58 p.m. — So, on a staff that includes Strasburg, Gio, Zimmermann and Detwiler ... who had Haren as the first Nats pitcher this season with a 10-strikeout game? Pretty remarkable, especially when you consider he's only through six innings. Still 3-3.

9:02 p.m. — Hmm, Haren is done after six innings, pinch-hit for by Roger Bernadina (who grounded out on the first pitch he saw to end the sixth). So now in a 3-3 game, the Nats' new pitcher is ... Henry Rodriguez. Hold onto your hats, folks.

9:13 p.m. — Well, his inning included a 100 mph fastball off Kevin Frandsen's forearm, but Henry otherwise got through the seventh unscathed. So we've reached the stretch, this game still tied 3-3. FYI: This was the first time Rodriguez appeared with the Nats either ahead or tied since April 4. His last four appearances all came with the Nats trailing by at least five runs.

9:32 p.m. — Big chance for the Nats in the bottom of the seventh, but they can't convert. After Antonio Bastardo walked both Harper and LaRoche, Charlie Manuel summoned the struggling Chad Durbin to face Desmond in a big spot. Desmond, never one to work the count, popped up the first pitch foul, then lofted a flyball to center on the next one to end the inning. Still 3-3 as Drew Storen enters for the eighth.

9:44 p.m. — Ugh, another shaky outing for Storen. He issued a one-out walk to Michael Young. Though he did strike out Howard (giving Howard a golden sombrero tonight), he then served up a base hit down the right-field line to Delmon Young, with Harper unable to throw out Young at the plate. (And yes, Delmon Young somehow managed only a single on a hit in which a guy scored from FIRST base.) Storen then compounded matters by serving up an RBI double to Domonic Brown. So it's 5-3 Phillies in the eighth, and Storen now sports a 5.30 ERA, having either been scored upon or charged with a blown save in three straight appearances.

9:59 p.m. — Another chance for the Nats in the bottom of the eighth, and another chance squandered. It didn't help that Lombardozzi couldn't get a sac bunt down, nor that Chad Tracy swung at the very first pitch Jeremy Horst threw on the night (after being summoned to pitch out of a jam) and lofted a shallow fly to left. So we go to the ninth, the Nats still trailing 5-3.

10:07 p.m. — Good stuff from Fernando Abad in his Nats debut. Flashed a 96 mph fastball during a scoreless top of the ninth. Last chance for the Nats now, down two with Jonathan Papelbon entering.

10:25 p.m. — It's over. The Nats lose 5-3, an incredibly frustrating loss at that.