Phillies rout Nationals, 7-1, as Zach Eflin shines in rain
The righty allowed one run in seven innings and saw his ERA drop to 3.00.
It might be too small of a sample size to suggest that Zach Eflin has turned the corner, but one can’t discount that the Phillies’ 25-year-old right-hander has enjoyed a solid beginning to this season.
After earning a complete-game win in his last outing against Miami, Eflin went seven more strong innings Sunday in a 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
With a fastball in the 92-94 mph range while pitching on a damp day when the game-time temperature was 57 degrees, Eflin allowed just one run on four hits, with five strikeouts and two walks in a 108-pitch effort.
He is now 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA after going 11-8 with a 4.36 ERA a year ago.
“That is back-to-back starts he has been able to do what he wanted to, execute the game plan pretty incredibly, so it has been really fun,” said catcher Andrew Knapp, who was also behind the plate for Eflin’s complete-game win.
Knapp said there has been a lot to be impressed with during the last two starts.
“Just being able to really get ahead of hitters," Knapp said, "and fastball command, he is not missing over the plate by much, he is in every single corner. And again today, we really executed fastballs up in the zone, I think that helped a lot.”
Eflin has shown flashes in the past, and now the key to his development will be striving for more consistency. Eflin says experience is the best teacher.
“I have come a long way from kind of chucking the ball up there and hoping they get hit straight to somebody, to being able to miss barrels or get weak contact when I need it or get a ground-ball double play when I need to,” Eflin said. “I think it is more understanding who I am and really just understanding what I need to do in certain counts and scenarios during the game.”
The Phillies (19-14) are heading for a six-game road trip to Missouri, with three in St. Louis and three in Kansas City, having won six of their last eight.
Washington (14-19), the preseason pick by many to win the NL East, is one banged-up team. Four starters from the Opening Day lineup -- shortstop Trea Turner, third baseman Anthony Rendon, leftfielder Juan Soto and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman -- are on the injured list.
Three of the starting eight position players entered Sunday’s game hitting below .200. The Nationals have to hope they don’t get too buried before the reinforcements return.
The Phillies took a 2-0 first-inning lead with two unearned runs when Cesar Hernandez’s two-out grounder went through the legs of first baseman Jake Noll.
Besides opening the scoring, the Phillies forced Anibal Sanchez to throw 44 pitches in the frame. Included in the inning was a 12-pitch walk to Rhys Hoskins.
Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki cut the lead in half with a solo homer in the fourth inning on a 1-1, 92-mph, two-seam fastball, cut the lead in half. Suzuki homered in all three games in this series, in which the Phillies won two.
Sanchez settled down but lasted only 4 2/3 innings, throwing 108 pitches. He had nine strikeouts and did not allow a run after the first inning.
Still, the Phillies had to be licking their chops, with the chance to get to the beleaguered Washington bullpen so early. Washington entered the game with the major leagues’ worst relief ERA (6.18).
In the sixth inning, the Nationals’ bullpen misery continued as the Phillies scored five runs off lefthander Matt Grace.
One-out singles by Andrew Knapp and Maikel Franco put runners at the corners. Eflin then laid down a perfect safety-squeeze bunt that died before anyone could get to it, for an RBI single.
“It was a nice little sand-wedge backspin along the right side, and worked out,” Eflin said.
After a walk to Andrew McCutchen loaded the bases, the Phillies made it 4-1 when Jean Segura hit an RBI fielder’s choice, just beating the throw to first base that would have ended the inning. That was followed by Bryce Harper’s RBI single to right and Hoskins’ two-run double to left, making it 7-1.
Harper has reached base in each of his eight games this season against his former team.
With that much of a cushion, Eflin gave the Phillies one more inning before Enyel De Los Santos ended with two scoreless innings. After the game, De Los Santos was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies didn’t immediately announce an accompanying move.