Monday’s series opener was quite lackluster for the Philadelphia Phillies. The offense was stymied by a 30-year-old rookie, only mustering one run in a 4-1 loss to the Washington Nationals to begin their seven-game, seven-day road trip.
But in a season in which 162 games are played daily, you have to find silver linings in losses such as this one. If not, the season will eat you up and spit you out, constantly worrying about every setback. Remember when the season was over in late April?
This year’s Nationals team is scrappy. They lead the league in scoring but struggle to pitch well on a consistent basis. However, that was not an issue Monday night.
Southpaw Foster Griffin, who resurrected his career here in 2026 after spending the last three seasons playing in Japan, twirled a gem.
The former first-round pick back in 2014 racked up nine strikeouts across 7 ⅓ innings, tying a career-high.
“The mix and match for us, we didn’t seem to do enough against him,” Don Mattingly said postgame on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The bats that led to an offensive explosion for the Phillies over the weekend were seemingly left behind at 1 Citizens Bank Way. Phillies hitters struck out 12 times in the loss, with only Bryce Harper and Rafael Marchán not falling victim. The lineup mustered just five hits.
Brandon Marsh produced the lone run for the Phillies with a solo shot against Griffin in the seventh inning to make it a 2-1 game at that point.
That home run may not have happened if not for a pep talk Marsh got from Harper, which was caught by the NBC Sports Philadelphia camera crew.
A shot in the dugout showed Harper, with his hands on Marsh’s shoulders, talking directly to the outfielder who is on the verge of making his first All-Star appearance.
However, after leading the National League in batting average, peaking at .338 back on June 7, this game can quickly humble you.
Marsh has been in the midst of a slide, hitting just .188 with a .527 OPS over his last 12 games. After a lineout and a strikeout in his first two at-bats on Monday, he was 9-for-his-last-50. Frustration was starting to settle in for Marsh, who has been one of the biggest surprises not only for the Phillies but also across the league this season.
The pep talk was well received by Marsh.
In his next at-bat, he smacked his 10th homer of the season.
“That’s just him being the leader he is,” Marsh said postgame on the words of encouragement from Harper. “He could see that I was overthinking a little bit up there and told me to stop thinking so much and go be you.”
That was the closest the Phillies got in the game. Seth Johnson allowed a single to James Wood and a two-run shot to Curtis Mead to make it 4-1 in the bottom half of the seventh.
Despite the loss, another positive was the performance of Alan Rangel.
The right-handed pitcher, who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, was the bulk pitcher in what technically was a bullpen game with Tim Mayza serving as the opener.
Rangel, who made his seventh big-league appearance, held his own against the high-scoring Washington lineup, filling the zone with strikes and limiting damage despite dealing with traffic on the bases.
In five innings of work, his lone blemish was a solo home run to Luis Garcia, the second batter he faced. He went on to strike out four and did not walk a batter.
"That was nice to see," Mattingly said on Rangel's outing. "[He] gives up the quick homer to his second hitter, but [he was] in the strikezone, don't think he walked anybody. That was good to see... he didn't rattle at all."
If he can give the Phillies five solid innings every fifth day and keep them in games, that would be a big relief for the Phillies.
Philadelphia will look to put this one in the rear-view mirror – but the road ahead could look a little less bumpy.
Rangel proving he could be competitive to help fill the hole left in the starting rotation by Andrew Painter's demotion and Marsh potentially ending his slump are two positives to take away in what was otherwise a forgettable game.
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