Vincent Velasquez was on the mound today for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Washington Nationals. Last night, the Phillies fell short of a comeback victory and lost 3-2. It was Vincent Velasquez’s job to restore order to the realm after just a brutal week of Philadelphia sports. Vinny got some help early. In the bottom of the second inning, Travis Jankowski hit a three-run home run, his first since 2018 to give the Phillies an early 3-0 lead. 

Bryce Harper hit yet another solo home run, his second in as many days to give The Phillies a 4-0 lead. Vincent Velasquez helped himself with an RBI single to score Jankowski in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Phillies were up 5-0 and in complete control of the ball game. As we can typically expect, Velasquez ran into some trouble in the fourth inning.

Velasquez finished the day throwing 4.1 innings, allowing three hits, four earned runs and two walks while striking out five. Archie Bradley certainly didn’t help in relief but was only responsible for one of the runs after letting up a game tying, three run home run to red hot Kyle Schwarber. 

From there, the Nationals Twitter account, which consistently makes fools of themselves, tweeted out the following:

Of course, that Tweet was awful. Without Joel Embiid on the floor, Ben Simmons had a 19 point, 10 rebound, 11 assist TRIPLE-double in the Game 5 clincher against the Washington Wizards. What a bunch of idiots. In the bottom half of the inning, the bases were jacked and Andrew McCutchen hit a grand slam to give the Phillies a 9-5 lead. The Phillies Twitter account immediately dunked on the Nationals, as they typically do. 

Sam Coonrod loaded the bases and was taken out in favor of David Hale with two-outs and The Phillies leading 9-5. Hale gave up a two-out, two-run single to Trea Turner to cut The Phillies’ lead in half. The game was now 7-5. David Hale loaded the bases and then of course, gave up a grand slam to Josh Bell.

Side Note: I absolutely hate David Hale. I always have. I always will.

The Washington Nationals took an 11-9 lead. The Phillies fumbled their way through the bottom of the sixth inning. Yes, this game is still just in the sixth inning and the Phillies managed to blow a five run lead, and a four run lead in the same game already (lol).

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Alec Bohm stayed hot and had his third hit on the day. Luke Williams would come to the plate as a pinch hitter and poked a ball to right field, scoring Bohm and narrowing the Nationals’ lead to 11-10. The Phillies were back in yet another one-run ball game heading into the final two innings.

Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless top of the 8th inning. In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Phillies had runners on the corner with no outs. Brad Miller struck out looking. Bohm came up and had ANOTHER hit, singling to center field to score Bryce Harper. The Phillies were back to an 11-11 ball game. Travis Jankowski walked to load the bases for Ronald Torreyes, who sneaked an RBI single out to right field.

The Phillies took a 12-11 lead. Hector Neris took the mound for the Phillies, but not before getting patted down by the umpires. Neris let up two quick hits and the Nationals had runners on first and second with nobody out.

We all got the same feeling. Hector Neris was going to blow another save after rollercoaster game. Always trust your instincts. Neris let up a two-run single to Sterling Castro and just like that, the Nationals took the lead. The score was now 13-12 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. Hoskins flied out. Harper flied out.

Realmuto reached on an infield hit (error?) to the shortstop. Brad Miller stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and flied out on a liner to second. The Phillies are now three games under .500 at 34-37.

The Phillies had an opportunity to win two games against the Nationals before heading to New York for a four game series against the NL East Leading New York Mets. They lost both.

MLB SCHEDULING????

The Phillies do not play tomorrow. The Mets do not play tomorrow. For whatever reason, instead of avoiding a doubleheader on Friday, and playing a game tomorrow and Friday, MLB scheduling is sticking to their guns and I honestly have zero clue why. 

FACEBOOK COMMENTS????

I know people share my blogs around Facebook, which I absolutely appreciate so thank you. The majority of people seem to enjoy them so in no way is this a jab at them. But this no-profile pic guy Tim Masters always has something dorky to say in the comments. Just wanted to point him out and let him know that I am watching him. No further comments at this time.

Other trolls on Facebook say I “plagiarize” these articles. They don’t understand what a blog is. If it’s a recap of a game, I’m literally copying stats and summarizing a game like anyone who writes about the Phillies. If there’s a storyline out there, I’m going to write about it and use that information as well. It’s pretty simple when you stop and use your peanut sized brains.

Not to mention, this article was posted not a minute after the Phillies game ended. Riddle me that one? Dummies. Love you no matter what, Facebook. Right now, the Phillies? Not so much.

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Mandatory Credit: MLB.com