Game 6: Nats at Phillies
Cade Cavalli returns to the mound for his second start as the Nationals attempt to win back-to-back road series to begin the season
PHILADELPHIA – It’s been an eventful, and encouraging, opening week for the Nationals. And they have an opportunity today to make it a truly successful week if they can beat the Phillies and head home having won back-to-back series on the road against two expected postseason contenders. Even if they don’t, nobody’s going to complain about a 3-3 start heading into Friday’s home opener against the mighty Dodgers. But 4-2? That would be something, wouldn’t it?
Having now made it through the five-man rotation, the Nats send Opening Day starter Cade Cavalli back to the mound this afternoon for his second outing of the year. The right-hander looked pretty good at Wrigley Field, though he did face a lot of traffic during his 3 2/3 innings, during which he had to throw 75 pitches. He would love a little bit cleaner performance today, and the opportunity to complete at least five innings against a tough Philadelphia lineup.
Speaking of tough … Cristopher Sánchez was electric in his Opening Day start against the Rangers, tossing six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and zero walks. The Nationals faced the left-hander only once last season, April 30 here at Citizens Bank Park, and managed two runs in five innings. The lone extra-base hit off him that night: a double by Nathaniel Lowe. The Nats’ first baseman today: Curtis Mead, who more than six years was traded straight up from the Phillies to the Rays for … Cristopher Sánchez.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Chance of rain late, 79 degrees, wind 11 mph out to right
NATIONALS
LF James Wood
1B Curtis Mead
3B Brady House
DH Daylen Lile
RF Joey Wiemer
SS CJ Abrams
2B Nasim Nuñez
CF Jacob Young
C Drew Millas
RHP Cade Cavalli
PHILLIES
SS Trea Turner
DH Kyle Schwarber
1B Bryce Harper
3B Alec Bohm
2B Bryson Stott
RF Adolis García
LF Brandon Marsh
C J.T. Realmuto
CF Justin Crawford
LHP Cristopher Sánchez
Those were some great at-bats by Abrams, Nunez and Young. Each fell behind 0-2, and each got a full count, with Abrams and Young eventually drawing walks.
I'm pretty sure Nationals batters have turned an 0-2 count into a 3-2 count five times today. Yeah, they've only scored 1 run, but they've also driven up Sanchez's pitch count to 93 and will probably get the Philly bullpen the rest of the way.