The Phillies ended the month of July on a high note, taking down the Washington Nationals 6-0 on Tuesday night. The win improves the Phils to 46-57, 15.5 games out of first place in the National League East.
- We saw the real Cliff Lee on the mound tonight. Its been a disappointing season for the lefty, but tonight he fired one of his best games of the season, shutting down one of the top offenses in baseball. The ace didn’t allow a run in seven innings, and gave up just five hits and a walk to earn his second win of the season.
- Lee also did some damage at the plate tonight with an RBI single in the fourth inning.
- The new-look offense did a great job of hitting Washington ace Stephen Strasburg early and often, tagging the right-hander for six runs in four innings.
- Third baseman Kevin Frandsen got the ball rolling with two-run home run in the second inning. It was his second straight start at third base, and he may hold on to the job if he continues to field the position well and produce with his bat. Charlie Manuel can’t be eager to go back to Ty Wigginton or Mike Fontenot.
- To the surprise of some, Juan Pierre remained on the Phillies’ roster after the trade deadline. He picked up three hits, stole two bases, and scored a run on a wild pitch in the third inning.
- John Mayberry will get plenty of playing time from now until the end of the year, and he made the most of it tonight, going 2-4 with a double in the fourth inning.
- Antonio Bastardo and Kyle Kendrick did a good job working through the eighth inning. Bastardo picked up two quick outs to start the inning, and Kendrick struck out Danny Espinosa with just four pitches.
- Jimmy Rollins put the game out of reach with a two-run inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning. It was his only hit of the night.
- Domonic Brown saw his first action of the season, recording a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning.
- Even though the Phillies are out of it right now, they still had a strong amount of fan support in Washington. You could hear the Philly fans making their presence known early in the game. I’m not sure if that says more about the Philadelphia fans (traveling and coming out strong to support the team during a bad year) or the Nationals fans (who still haven’t taken back the park even though their team has the best record in baseball).
