A pair of NL East opponents open up a weekend set on the diamond in the City of Brotherly Love. The Washington Nationals are on the road as they kick off a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night. Washington closed out a four-game set on the road with the Cardinals Thursday afternoon. They were dropped 6-5 in walk-off fashion Wednesday night in the third game of the series. Philadelphia finished a three-game series at home against Miami hoping for a sweep. The Phillies picked up a 4-3 win on Wednesday night in the middle game of the set. In the season series, the Phillies own a 10-2 advantage, including a four-game home sweep in the most recent series August 4-7.
Washington let one slip away Wednesday night against St. Louis for their second straight loss after three consecutive wins. The Nationals entered Thursday in the basement of the NL East, 38.5 games behind the Mets for the top spot. They have been eliminated from wild card contention. On Wednesday night, Washington had 10 hits with Luke Voit (run, two RBI) having three: no other player had more than one. Voit hit his 19th homer of the season in the loss for the Nationals, who led 5-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth before imploding. Cory Abbott didn’t factor in the decision as he threw 4.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Kyle Finnegan (5-3) took the loss as he allowed five runs on four hits with two walks and one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.
Patrick Corbin is on the mound as he makes his 28th start of the season for th e Nationals in this contest. He comes in 6-17 with a 6.28 ERA, a 1.70 WHIP, 46 walks and 128 strikeouts over 134.2 innings of work this season. Corbin earned the win in his last start, which came Saturday on the road against the Mets. He threw seven innings, allowing one run on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts in a game Washington won 7-1. In his last three starts, Corbin is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, four walks and 13 strikeouts over 18.1 innings of work. Corbin makes his 18th career start against the Phillies in this contest. He comes in 6-7 with a 4.42 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, 32 walks and 87 strikeouts over 95.2 innings of work against them. Corbin is 1-3 with a 7.41 ERA, a 1.647 WHIP, 14 walks and 29 strikeouts over 34 innings in seven career starts at Citizens Bank Park.