Categories: 2009 RecapsPosts

Nationals Pound Phils Pitching With Homers

The Nationals slammed four home runs off Phillies pitching, powering them to their first victory of the 2009 season. The Nats won 8-2.

As usual, the Phillies got behind too early. Joe Blanton surrendered a three-run bomb to Adam Dunn in the first inning, a hole from which the Phils couldn’t climb. Raul Ibanez drove in Chase Utley in the fourth inning, and Jimmy Rollins drove in Lou Marson in the fifth, but the Phils couldn’t mount any real rallies, scattering only five hits off Nationals pitching.

Blanton finished with a line of 6 IP / 3 ER / 8 H / 1 BB / 5 K. He wiggled out of jams after the first inning, putting together a solid, if initially flawed outing. Though down 3-2, the Phils couldn’t hold the deficit. Chad Durbin and Jack Taschner combined to allow five runs via three home runs in a little more than an inning.

There was a silver lining: Making his first appearance of 2009, Marson went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. The jury is out on how well he calls a game: eight runs isn’t great, but Durbin and Taschner seem like easy foils for runs.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.