By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
WASHINGTON D.C. — The Phillies will again turn to right-hander Mark Leiter to provide the club with a chance to put another win on the board.
The Phillies hope that they are able to get another quality start out of Leiter, but also that they are able to replicate the offensive production that they were able to last night when they score 10 runs. They also hope to play a clean game without errors behind the righty.
The wheels came off last night in the bottom of the third inning when three poor defensive plays by César Hernandez, Rhys Hoskins and Odubel Herrera allowed four runs to score. Then in the bottom of the fourth, Maikel Franco had his own error that allowed another run to score. The errors cost a lead that the Phillies would never be able to get back, despite their offensive production.
With last night’s 11-10 loss, the Phillies are now 5-9 against the Nationals this season.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies (53-88) | Washington Nationals (87-54) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Mark Leiter | RHP | Edwin Jackson | ||
| (2-5, 4.74 ERA) | (5-4, 3.62 ERA) | ||||
Leiter Career vs. WSN : (0-0), 1 G, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA ;
- April: 0 GS, 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 0 SO, 0 BB, .000/.000/.000
- May: 0 GS, 10 G, 0-0, 5.74 ERA, 15 2/3 IP, 11 SO, 11 BB, .175/.309/.333
- June: 2 GS, 3 G, 1-0, 2.70 ERA, 13 1/3 IP, 12 SO, 4 BB, .250/.304/.481
- July: 1 GS, 2 G, 0-2, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 5 SO, 4 BB, .273/.414/.500
- August: 3 GS, 6 G, 1-2, 3.41 ERA, 29 IP, 29 SO, 6 BB, .236/.294/.409
- September: 1 GS, 1 G, 0-1, 21.60 ERA, 3 1/3 IP, 2 SO, 0 BB, .450/.450/.850
Leiter’s last start did not go as smoothly as the Phillies had hoped. The 26 year old right hander struggled mightily, giving up nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits in only three and a third innings pitched. That was the first start in which he did not get through five innings as well as the first time that he had given up more than 5 earned runs in a start.
Leiter was someone who was not on many radars at the beginning of the season. A long shot to make the team, Leiter has served as a starter, reliever, and long man depending on what the Phillies need him to do due to injuries, similar to the role Kyle Kendrick filled for the club in the 2011 season.
The right-hander is not huge and may his pitch speed lower than many pitchers in the majors, but he has learned how to pitch and use his report of six pitches to keep opposing batters guessing and pound the strike zone.
Season Splits, By Month
Jackson Career vs. PHI : (2-6), 9 G, 42.0 IP, 54 H, 29 R, 28 ER, 16 BB, 32 SO, 6.00 ERA
- June: 0 GS, 3 G, 0-0, 7.20 ERA, 5 IP, 2 SO, 4 BB, .458/.536/.875
- July: 3 GS, 3 G, 2-1, 2.84 ERA, 19 IP, 12 SO, 5 BB, .203/.257/.435
- August: 5 GS, 5 G, 3-2, 3.00 ERA, 30 IP, 23 SO, 10 BB, .265/.318/.444
- September: 1 GS, 1 G, 0-1, 6.35 ERA, 5 2/3 IP, 5 SO, 1 BB, .238/.261/.667
Jackson, 34, has spent parts of 17 major league seasons with 12 different franchises. The right-handed journeyman is in his second stint with the Nationals and has experienced a sort of renaissance.
Jackson began the season in the Baltimore Orioles organization and pitched at the AAA level until he was called up on June 7. After being designated for assignment just four days later on June 11, the Nationals signed the free agent on June 16 and sent him back to AAA.
On July 18, Jackson was called up to take the spot of the injured Joe Ross in the rotation. He has started nine games for the Nationals since then, never pitching less than five innings and never allowing more than four earned runs. The righty has battled his way down to a 3.62 ERA in those starts from his 7.20 ERA that he held before being designated for assignment by the Orioles.
Season Splits, By Month
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies (53-88) | Washington Nationals (87-54) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 2B | César Hernández | S | 1 | SS | Trea Turner | R |
| 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 2 | LF | Howie Kendrick | R |
| 3 | RF | Nick Williams | L | 3 | 2B | Daniel Murphy | L |
| 4 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins | R | 4 | 1B | Ryan Zimmerman | R |
| 5 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 5 | 3B | Anthony Rendon | R |
| 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 6 | CF | Michael Taylor | R |
| 7 | RF | Hyun Soo Kim | L | 7 | RF | Alejandro De Aza | L |
| 8 | C | Cameron Rupp | R | 8 | C | Raudy Read | R |
| 9 | P | Mark Leiter | R | 9 | P | Edwin Jackson | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- The Phillies currently have eight players with 10 or more home runs this season: Tommy Joseph (20), Maikel Franco (19), Aaron Altherr (16), Cameron Rupp (14), Odubel Herrera (12), Rhys Hoskins (13), Freddy Galvis (11), and Nick Williams(10). The only other season that the Phillies have had eight or more players with 10 or more home runs was in 2004 they had nine players do so. César Hernandez has the potential to match that with his eight so far this season.
- The Nationals’ starting pitching staff has allowed only 52 earned runs in their last 30 starts (185 2/3 innings pitched). They’ve posted a 2.52 ERA over this stretch, which leads the Major Leagues.
- Rhys Hoskins has hit seven of his 13 homeruns with two strikes against him and has a .997 OPS in two strike scenarios.
What’s Next:
- Sunday, September 10, 2017: vs. Washington Nationals, 1:35 p.m.
- Nationals Park
- RHP Ben Lively (3-5, 3.91 ERA) vs. TBA
- TV: CSN; Radio: 1210 WPHT
