Phils Beat Papelbon Again, Sweep Nats

Aaron Nola pitched like an ace.

The First Place Washington Nationals were 8-1 at home before the Third-Place Phillies completed a 3-game sweep of them there Thursday.  The Phils have now won 6-out-of-seven games and are a mere 2 1/2 games behind Washington, sandwiching the Second Place Mets, who have won 6-straight and 9-of-10.  

Starting pitcher Aaron Nola S.O. 7 with 7 innings of 2 hit shutout baseball.  Closer Jeanmar Gomez recorded his 7th save  (#2 in the NL) with another scoreless 9th and the Phillies beat Jonathan Papelbon yet again, causing him more misery against his former team.

Thursday, Nola reached 37 S.O. on the season, which ranks him #4 in the NL.  His 0.88 WHIP ranks #7, although he is 1-2 and did not record the win.

In the top of the 9th with the score knotted at nothing apiece, the Nationals brought on relief pitcher Felipe Rivero and his 1.54 ERA.

Herrera, a true lead-off hitter.

Phils CF Odubel Herrera was the first to face him.  Herrera was 0-for-2 on the night.  He had been struckout looking in the 4th and lined out to right in the 6th.  However, while it could appear he had been unproductive, that is far from true.  In fact, he drew a lead-off walk and attempted a steal, but was caught to start the game.  It's terrific to see his aggression on the base paths, where he ranks #7 in the NL in stolen bases.

Herrera has a .453 on base percentage (#4 OBP in NL) with 22 walks (#2 in NL).  That's amazing when you consider he isn't a power hitter or playing for a First-place team, which means nobody is pitching around him, which they are Arizona's slugger Paul Goldschmidt who leads the league with 1 walk more than Herrera.

Herrera's ability to draw walks and utilize a scrupulous eye at the plate makes him arguably the best true leadoff hitter the Phillies have seen in quite some time.  Without opening a debate or drawing extensive  comparison, it is well-known that Jimmy Rolllins, who loved to leadoff for the Phils, had an Achilles heel in that role: his putrid .324 career OBP.

Herrera lead off the 9th with a single to center field.  Then, SS Freddy Galvis doubled to deep left center, moving Herrera to 3rd base.  Sensational 3rd baseman Maikel Franco was intentionally walked to load the bases with still nobody out.  Then, sadly (and strategically debatable), Darrin Ruf was brought in to pinch hit for Ryan Howard.  (Wow, sign of the times.)  The Nationals, desperate to salvage a game of the series and maintain their dwindling first place stronghold behind their franchise-best start, which shrunk daily throughout the week during the Mets win-streak, countered with  closer Jonathan Papelbon.  Papebon promptly S.O. Ruf on 3 pitches.

Rupp's double sails over Jayson Werth.

However, with 1 out, the next batter to face Papelbon was catcher Cameron Rupp.  Rupp fouled one off, then another.  Papelbon had the hitter right where he wanted with 2 quick strikes.  With 1 out and 2 strikes on Rupp, none of the bases loaded runners had scored and the score still read 0-0 with Rupp facing an 0-2 hole.  Then, Rupp drew a ball.  Then another.  It was a 2-2 count.

On the next pitch, Rupp doubled to deep right (he has a .480 SLG % with 1 HR and 7 2B in 50 AB) to plate Herrera and Galvis and put the Phils on top 2-0.  

"It's always sweet, especially sweeping these guys in your division," Rupp said. "A lot of people write us off saying we don't want to win. That's not true. We come out here and play."

Gomez has authoritatively taken the reigns from Giles.

Then, 28 year-old Gomez came in to swat the Nats in the bottom half of the inning.  He surrendered a lead-off single to  Ryan Zimmerman, but then induced a fly out followed by a Jayson Werth ground out double play to SS to end the game.

Gomez has been amazing for the Phils.  He is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP.  Meanwhile, Kenny Giles, who Gomez has replaced, is 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP for the Astros, who the Phils traded him to late last year for a bunch of promising prospects, including Vincent Velasquez, who has been one of the Phils best starters this season: 3-1, 1.78 ERA (#6), 33 S.O. (#5, behind teammate Nola) and 0.87 WHIP (#5).

Herrera and Galvis score the winning runs in the 9th.

The Phils won 3-0 to complete the impressive sweep in Washington, their first since 2009.  

They return home for a weekend series against Cleveland before beginning a 10-game road trip.

The Phils are young, competitive and exciting.  They haven't been that combination for a long time.