Phillies-Nats Series Ahead

The Phils may have hit the rocks yesterday in New York, but they still won the series, marking their third straight series win, and they're still cruising atop the NL East. They now head to DC for a three-game set with the Nationals, starting today at 1:05. The Nationals are in a tailspin right now, having lost nine of their last 11 games. They're also receiving the kind of star player attention they'd rather not get.

Werth Making Headlines
Jayson Werth is being scrutinized by the DC media (and ripped by some) after his recent open-ended comments about "changes need[ing] to be made." With his price tag, scrutiny is inevitable. I gotta tell ya though, after seeing video of his comments, I really didn't find anything wrong with them. Werth was nondescript, didn't single out anyone by name, and most of all he was right. The Nats stink and need to change that fact. His comments could just as easily have been interpreted to mean, "We need to change the fact that we're not winning" as "We need personnel changes." And I think it was a stretch to assume he meant the latter, because even when it's true, players rarely say it.

On the field, Werth's season numbers aren't great, but he saw a modest improvement from April to May. He's had multi-hit games in three of his last five, but only one RBI since May 20th, with little help from the lineup in front of him. Ben Francisco has only six more RBI (25) than Werth and only two fewer homers (6) while drawing fewer starts. The Nats are nearly dead last in both average and on-base percentage, and the next three days aren't likely to help those numbers.

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Pitching Matchups
Today: Roy Halladay will face Livan Hernandez.
Tuesday: Cliff Lee vs. Jason Marquis
Wednesday: Roy Oswalt vs. John Lannan

Sorry Nats, but the Phils drew three aces in this series. We're not getting ahead of ourselves and chalking up a sweep or even a series win. The Phils have had struggles of their own, although the offense is certainly looking better as it's gotten healthier. And well, the pitching matchups do seem to favor the visitors...

Happy Memorial Day
We hope everyone is having an excellent Memorial Day weekend. Whether you're relaxing down the shore, hanging out downtown, grilling in a suburban back yard, or spending your day anywhere else, we've had some nice weather to ring in the unofficial start of summer. The long, late-May weekend has come to mean that to most of us, but today in particular is about much more, so we wanted to say thank you to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in our nation's armed forces, and also to the friends and families they left behind. We truly appreciate your service and what you were willing to give up.

A huge thank you to the veterans and current servicemen and women too. We wish you could all be home for the weekend, but we're thankful for your service.