Today’s Nationals game was a perfect example of bad things happening in threes.

Tonight, for the third game in a row, the Washington Nationals jumped out to an early lead over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. The real test was turning that early lead into a victory. Curtis Mead’s solo home run (14) in the bottom of the 1st started things off for the Nats. Daley Lile’s rbi single later in the inning knocked in Andres Chaparro who was on first after being plunked by a pitch and then sent to 3rd on Dylan Crews’ single.

Crews then scored on Jacob Young’s ground-out. Nasim Nunez ended the scoring with a rbi single scoring Lile. 4-0 good guys. Washington tacked on another run in the bottom of the 3rd after Jacob Young singled to center scoring Dylan Crews who hit his second single of the game earlier in the inning. That made it 5-0. The score stayed the same until the top of the 6th when the Phillies scored a pair after Bryce Harper’s infield single was followed by Brandon Marsh’s home run to center. Here we go again! 5-2 Washington.

The Phillies were back at it in the top of the 7th. Justin Crawford singled to left, Trea Turner singled to right, Kyle Schwarber walked. Bryce Harper also walked sending Crawford home with Philadelphia’s 3rd run. But wait, it gets worse. Brandon Marsh also got a free pass sending Trea Turner home. Alec Bohm then tied the game with a force out that scored Schwarber. It’s like déjà vu all over again. This is getting monotonous. 5-5 end of the 7th. I don’t really want to tell you what happened in the top of the 9th, but it’s my duty as a sports reporter to do so… Kyle Schwarber led off the inning with a single to center. Bryce Harper homered to left. 7-5 Phillies just like that. Brandon Marsh followed with a singled to right. With 2 outs, J.T. Realmuto doubled to center, scoring Marsh.

Derek Hill followed with the second two-run home run of the inning. Washington shut out in the bottom of the 9th. 10-5 Phillies win 3rd consecutive in similar fashion What started off with hope after a first-game victory, ended up with heartache after a trilogy of late inning loses. I’m kind of in shock. Washington now sits in fourth place in the NL East, 8 ½ games behind the Braves. But life goes on as does the baseball season. It’s a new day and a new game tomorrow in Baltimore(7:05EDT) Keep a stiff upper lip, my friends. Go Nats! Dave’s Dime…Phase 1 of the 2026 All-Star team voting concluded today at noon ET. Tonight at 6 we found out which players will move on to Phase 2, and that will determine who makes up the starting line-up for this year’s game. The actual game takes place on Tuesday, July 14th, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The rules for selecting the starters are a little different this year. Phase 1 that ended today narrows the field down to the top two vote getters for each position. The top six in outfield votes also move on. The player who garners the most votes overall automatically makes the starting lineup; no phase 2 necessary for that position unless the overall winner is an outfielder. Voting for this next phase starts on June 29th and lasts through July 2nd.

Votes reset to zero and fans can only vote for the top two vote getters from Phase 1. (I had to read it over myself a couple of times before I got it. So don’t feel bad if you have to do the same.) This system was supposedly set up to make extra-double-sure that the best players at each position make the starting line-ups.

No more massive voting by one team’s fans for undeserving players. The final phase consists of only two choices per position, which the powers that be seem to think leads toward having the best player selected for each position. It’s an interesting concept, to say the least. Kind of a confusing concept as well. But most things that take two paragraphs to explain usually are…confusing. As far as the Nationals go, we also found out a couple hours ago that our star shortstop C.J. Abrams is one of the finalists and will face off against Mookie Betts from the Dodgers for the privilege of starting the game at that position. Phase 2 winners will be announced on July 4th along with reserve position players and pitchers. So, let’s go, fans. It’s time to make C.J. a starter. Go on-line, starting next Monday, the 29th, to MLB All-Star Ballot or MLB Vote. Or you can use the MLB App or the MLB Ballpark app.

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