Philadelphia Phillies lose to Washington Nationals 1-2 – MLB Recap
The Philadelphia Phillies lost to Washington Nationals 1-2 in the first game of their three-match regular series encounter on Monday, May 21 at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia in 2012 Major League Baseball season.
The Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez was accurate throughout the game and literally held the Phillies’ offence with great force. He not only played well, but he was also the only pitcher in the Nationals roster who inspired the later relievers.
He finished with only one hit. Going six scoreless innings, the Nationals’ pitcher proved too good against the dire Phillies bating lineup, who only able to score a single run in nine innings.
Gonzalez said, "Even though they have a couple of guys down, they have a great lineup, You have to pitch them smart. I tried my best to keep the ball down."
Later Washington manager Davey Johnson said, "Getting the outcome wasn't easy, Henry can be exciting sometimes. Sometimes he tries to do too much."
The Phillies manager was most upset about the loss when his team could not perform well and lost a close game which they could have won.
"We couldn't get it done. We need some guys to get hot and start hitting the ball for us. Guys have to pick one another up. That hurt us. We cannot afford to not score our runs." Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said.
Overall, both teams’ pitchers played well and never allowed any opposing batter to play them easy.
Phillies' starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick played according to the plan as what Charlie Manuel has told him. However, when he gave two runs in the second and at bottom fourth, the game suddenly started to favour the Nationals who eventually won it in style.
Both these teams will be facing each other on Tuesday, May 22 and its looking that the Nationals will again crush the Phillies as they have a stronger offence.
Currently the Nationals are at second position in the National League East Division with .595 percentage. They are consistent and if they kept their offensive form intact, the post season qualification will be just be a matter of enhancing the chances of World Series.
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