Hernandez’s walk-off single propels Phillies to first series win of 2017

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor

Final: Phillies 4, Nationals 3     

WP: Jeanmar Gomez (1-0) ❖  LP:  Koda Glover (0-1) 

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies earned their first series win of the season against the Washington Nationals thanks to a walk-off single in the ninth off the bat of Cesar Hernandez. The Phils led 3-0 heading into the ninth, but Jeanmar Gomez surrendered a three-run blast to Ryan Zimmerman to tie the game at three. Daniel Nava and Freddy Galvis got on base in the bottom half, and Hernandez capped off the inning with a bloop single in front of Jayson Werth to plate Nava and win the game. 

Jeremy Hellickson put together another strong outing, pitching five scoreless innings, but exited early due to a hand injury suffered while throwing his warm-ups in the sixth inning. 

Game Summary:

The Phillies struck first in this one. After going down 1-2-3 in the first, they capitalized with two runners on in the second. Freddy Galvis put together a phenomenal nine-pitch at-bat against Strasburg that was capped off with an RBI single, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead.

Washington threatened in the fourth. After Jeremy Hellickson went through the first nine batters in just 35 pitches, he walked Adam Eaton to start the frame. He got the next two outs, but Daniel Murphy hit a two-out single, putting runners on the corners. Adam Lind hit a sharp grounder to second though, which was fielded nicely by Cesar Hernandez, to end the inning.

Leading off the bottom of the fifth, Andrew Knapp lined a double to left field for his first Major League hit. Two batters later, Cesar Hernandez reached on an infield single, plating Knapp to extend their lead to 2-0. Howie Kendrick followed with an RBI-double to score Hernandez from first, making it a 3-0 advantage.

In the top of the sixth, Jeremy Hellickson was removed from the game after injuring his hand during warm-up tosses, ending his strong outing after just five innings. Joaquin Benoit came in and allowed a hit and struck out one in a scoreless sixth.

Adam Lind hit a one-out double in the top of the seventh with Pat Neshek on the mound and Jayson Werth walked. Lind reached third on a Stephen Drew fly out, putting runners on the corners with two down. Pete Mackanin summoned Hector Neris from the bullpen, and he quicly induced an inning-ending groundout off the bat of Jose Lobaton to preserve the Phillies 3-0 lead. Hector pitched a scoreless eighth as well.

Washington started the ninth inning with a Daniel Murphy groundout, but Adam Lind singled and Jayson Werth walked against Jeanmar Gomez. Jeanmar got Stephen Drew to strike out swinging, but pinch-hitter Ryan Zimmerman blasted a three-run homer to left, tying the game at three in the ninth.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Daniel Nava led-off with a walk. Two batters later, Freddy Galvis singled to right, moving Nava to third, but Brock Stassi followed with a pop out, leaving things in the hands of Cesar Hernandez. He blooped a single into left, scoring Nava to win the game in walk-off fashion.

Starting Pitchers:

At the Plate:

Nationals

• Adam Lind: 2-4, 2B, R
• Ryan Zimmerman: 1-1, HR, R, 3 RBI
• Adam Eaton: 1-3, BB, K 

Phillies

• Cesar Hernandez: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, K
• Freddy Galvis: 2-4, RBI
• Howie Kendrick: 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K

Bullpen:

Nationals

• Sammy Solis: 1.0 IP, 1 BB
• Koda Glover: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB

Phillies

• Joaquin Benoit:  1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO
• Pat Neshek: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB
• Hector Neris: 1.1 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO
• Jeanmar Gomez: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

What's Next:

• Monday, April 10, 2017: vs. New York Mets, 7:05 p.m.
• Citizens Bank Park
• RHP Jacob DeGrom (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 2.70 ERA)
• TV: CSN Philly
• Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP