Nationals Lose Opener in Philly 6-3.

The Washington Nationals began a 4-game series tonight in Philadelphia against the Phillies. They took an early lead but couldn’t hold it. Kind of a recurring theme for the Nats. Final score: Philadelphia 6 Washington 3.

Andrew Alvarez started tonight for the Nationals. He has a 2-win 3-loss record with a 4.06 ERA.

Starting for the Phillies was Aaron Nola. He’s 3 and 9 for the season with an ERA of 5.61.

The Nationals struck early in the top of the 1st as Abimelec Ortiz hit his 1st home run of the season to right field. Ortiz was just recalled from Triple-A Rochester yesterday after the Nats traded Luis Ortiz Jr. to the Yankees. Ortiz was originally promoted to the major leagues for the 1st time on July 12th. 1-0 Washington.

Washington added a couple runs in the top of the 2nd as Keibert Ruiz led off with a single to right and scored on Daylen Lile’s home run to center field, his 14th. 3-0 good guys.

Alvarez went 6 1/3 innings for the Nationals giving up only 3 hits and 2 runs with 3 walks and 5 strike outs.

Nola pitched 6 innings for the Phillies, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 5 strike outs.

Tom Cosgrove came on to pitch for the Nationals in the bottom of the 7th with runners on 1st and 2nd base. He promptly walked Edmundo Sosa and then gave up a grand slam home run to Derek Hill, his 9th homer of the year. 4-3 Philadelphia.

In the bottom of the 8th, Clayton Beeter came in to pitch for the Nationals. Kyle Schwarber walked. Bryce Harper followed with a home run to center field scoring pinch-runner Justin Crawford. Eddy Yean then came in to pitch for Washington finishing out the inning. 6-3 Phillies.

And that’s the way it ended.

Three Phillies relievers pitched an inning each giving up no hits or runs and striking out 5 Nationals.

Six losses in a row for our Nats. They now stand at 55 wins and 59 losses. They’re 5 games out of a wild card slot. It’s not looking good. But I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel. I’m the eternal optimist.

They play the Phillies again tomorrow. Starting time is 6:40 ET.

Dave’s Dime…Trade deadline ended tonight.

Well, our Washington Nationals traded a 2026 All-Star pitcher, a starting 3rd baseman, and a starting 1st baseman for 1 part-time MLB relief pitcher and 9 minor league prospects.

We already talked about the Curtis Mead trade to the Red Sox on July 25th, and how he was unfortunate enough to get hit by a pitch in his 2nd at-bat for Boston. He ended up with a fractured left wrist and is expected to be out from 6 to 8 weeks.

Luis Garcia Jr. was traded yesterday to the New York Yankees and will play 1st base and DH. He hits from the left side and should enjoy that short porch in right field. He entered Sunday leading the National League in slugging percentage with a .560 SLG. And now he’s in the American League.

Remember, the formula for figuring a player’s slugging percentage is…(Singles) +(2 x Doubles) + (3 x Triples) + (4 x Home Runs) divided by At-Bats. So, if a hitter has 15 singles that would count for 15 points. 15 x 1. If he had 6 doubles that would count for 12 points. 6 x 2. If he had 3 triples that would count as 9 points. 3 x 3. If he had 4 home runs that would count as 16 points. 4 x 4. Add 15 + 12 + 9 + 16 = 52. If our batter had 100 plate appearances that would be a slugging percentage of .520. Not bad. There’s your math for the day.

The Nationals received reliever Jake Bird and 3 minor league pitching prospects in return for Garcia.

This season with the Yankees, Bird has a record of 1 win and 1 loss with an ERA of 5.93.

Jack Cebert was pitching for the Double-A Somerset Patriots located in Bridgewater, New Jersey. He had 2 wins and 3 losses with an ERA of 4.90. He was reassigned yesterday to the Nationals’ Double-A affiliate Harrisburg Senators.

Ben Grable also pitched for Somerset for part of this season. He went 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA. Yesterday, he was also reassigned to the Nationals’ Double-A Harrisburg Senators.

Yovanny Cruz made his major league debut on May 20th of this season. In 5 1/3 innings with the Yankees, Cruz had a 0-0 win-loss record with a 1.69 ERA.

Foster Griffin went to the Cleveland Guardians hours before this afternoon’s trade deadline. In 22 starts this season, Griffin had a record of 12 wins and 3 losses with a 3.06 ERA. Griffin had spent the previous 3 years with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japan Central League.

He signed a one-year contract with Washington this past offseason. He was set to be a free agent at the end of the season and was unlikely to resign with the Nationals.

The Nationals received 4 minor league prospects for Griffin.

Left-handed pitcher Josh Hartle is currently pitching for the Double-A Akron RubberDucks with a 3.86 ERA in 19 starts.

Will Dion, a right-handed pitcher, made his MLB debut this May for the Guardians. He appeared in 12 games with an ERA of 4.58. Earlier in the season, Will pitched for the Triple A Columbus Clippers. He went 5-0 with a 3.62 ERA in 21 appearances.

Nick Mitchell is a 22-year-old outfielder who was hitting .240 in 75 games this season also with the Double-A Akron RubberDucks.

Kendeglys Virguez is another right-handed pitcher who has spent this season in High-A and Double-A for the Guardians with a record of 4 and 1 with a 4.13 ERA, while pitching for the High-A Lake County Captains, and, you guessed it, the Double-A Akron RubberDucks.

Well, there you have it. Was it worth it? Do you think the Nationals got enough in return for the

players they traded?

Only time will tell…

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