Nationals Take Care of the Phillies on Friday 7-2

First pitch on Military Appreciation Day. Each branch of the service was represented.

A great deal of catching up to do. A very busy weekend. Nats game and a great trip to New York City. I’m hoping this week to get caught up. I also hope to do a couple of political posts too since there’s been news on that front too

Here's a little about Friday's game from the Post:

Espinosa continued his unexpected left-handed tear Friday night with a home run to dead center off O’Sullivan. Espinosa tried hitting exclusively right-handed this spring after he hit .183 in 230 left-handed at-bats last season. He finished Friday hitting 4 for 9 with two home runs left-handed.

Shortstop Ian Desmond continued his hot-hitting week. He had three hits and reached base five times. He also bobbled a Carlos Ruiz groundball for his seventh error in 11 games, though this one did not cost the Nationals a run.

Harper finished the game 1 for 2 with a pair of walks. He has walked against righties and lefties, like Thursday’s starter Cole Hamels. Harper has never walked more than 61 times in a season, but he has eight in 11 games.

One of Harper’s walks came in the seventh, when the Nationals piled on. Ryan Zimmerman drove in Desmond and Harper with a two-run double, his second in as many nights. For the second straight night, at least six different Nationals had hits. For the fourth straight game, the Nationals scored five runs or more.

Harper got things going in the bottom of the first with a three run homer. Then in the 4th Espinosa hit a solo home run. It's great to see Espinosa doing well on the hitting side of things. He's always been a great defensive player but his hitting has not really been all that consistent the last few years. He also got moved to third base when Yunel Escobar hurt himself.

There were two spectacular catches one from Ryan Zimmerman and the other from Dan Uggla. Uggla's stopped what would have certainly been a hit. Zimmerman's just showed how well he's fitting in at first base.

It was a great night to be at the park. Weather was fantastic. And best of all the Nats won!

I'll have some pictures of Espinosa's home run in an upcoming post.