Phillies strand 10 in 5-1 loss to Nationals

Aaron Nola made his first start of the 2025 season as the Phillies looked to complete the sweep over the Nationals to start off the year, but fell 5-1 in the series finale.

The Phils were without both Trea Turner (back) and J.T. Realmuto (foot) against Mitchell Parker, who dominated the Phillies’ offense, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings.. Turner was scratched from Saturday’s lineup after feeling back spasms in his lower back while taking groundballs pregame. Realmuto, on the other hand, fouled a ball off his left foot in Saturday’s win. His X-rays were negative.

They will receive more treatment today, and the Phillies are hopeful both can play in Monday’s home opener.

Stott and Bohm leave 10 combined runners

It was a rough day for Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm, as they combined to go 0-9, striking out once, and as mentioned, leaving 10 runners on base between the two of them. It was a streaky series for Bryson Stott, going 0-4 on opening day, then dominating yesterday going 2/3 with a home run, and now 0/4 again in today’s contest.

So far, the only common denominator is left-handed pitching. Only 3 games into the season, there’s no need to overreact, but Stott is off to a 0-5 start against lefties. Not surprising to see trends like this early in the year as guys shake off the rust.

Alec Bohm also stumbled against Washington’s pitching today, going 0-5. It’s an outlier performance so far for Alec, who had had solid 2 hit games on Thursday and Saturday. Bohm would be the last out of the game, ending the Phillies’ 9th inning rally with a lineout to second base.

The bottom of the lineup continued to be a bright spot despite the loss today, with Edmundo Sosa, Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, and Rafael Marchan combining to go 5-13. Marchan saw the most struggles of the 4, stranding 5 men on base, although it is worth noting he drove in the only run by picking up an RBI on a fielder’s choice.

Sosa performed well, starting in place of Turner, tallying his second 2 hit game in a row.

Nola struggles with the longball, gives up 5

Nola made his first start of the season today and certainly has some rust to shake off. It’s far from out of the ordinary to see him struggle with giving up home runs but his issue today was the base runners. Usually, it’s maybe 2 solo shots he’ll allow, but it was a 3-run shot from Josh Bell and a 2-run bomb from Nathaniel Lowe. In fairness to Aaron Nola, he’s not accustomed to pitching with Marchan behind the plate rather than Realmuto.

Past the two bad pitches, Nola’s stuff looked really good, especially for his first start of the season. In just 5.1 innings, he set Nationals hitters down on strikes 8 times. I’d feel comfortable writing this off as an outlier for Nola, given it was his first start, no Realmuto, and outside the 2 home runs, he looked very strong on the mound.

Jose Ruiz finished out the 6th inning for Nola and was able to take care of business with 2 strikeouts. After Ruiz, Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings. It’s back-to-back days pitching for all 3 of Ruiz, Strahm, and Banks, so it will be interesting to see how Rob Thomson handles the bullpen with the home opener tomorrow.

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