After being traded to the Phillies just one day ago, Roy Oswalt took the mound against the Washington Nationals. This debut is one that the Phillies hope isn't a sign of things to come from the 32-year-old right-hander.
The first batter Oswalt faced as a Phillie was Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan who started off the bottom of the first and Oswalt's Phillies career with a triple. Adam Kennedy would then ground out to second base, scoring Morgan and giving the Nats an early lead.
In the third, Oswalt ran into more trouble, when Nationals starter Craig Stammen got the inning started with a single to right field. After Nyjer Morgan was hit by a pitch, Adam Kennedy bunted, leading to a throwing error by catcher Carlos Ruiz. Stammen was able to score and Morgan moved over to third base. Ryan Zimmerman drove in Morgan with a sac fly, giving the Nats a 3-0 lead.
The fifth inning had more scoring for the Nationals after a double by Josh Willingham drove in Adam Kenenedy and Adam Dunn. This capped off the scoring against Oswalt, although the Nationals also added three runs against reliever Chad Durbin in the seventh inning.
On the other side, Nationals pitcher Craig Stammen delivered a strong performance allowing one run, a homer by Jayson Werth, through six and a third innings. Tyler Clippard and Colin Balester relieved Stammen and closed out the game for the Nationals.
The Phillies must have been feeling good after bolstering their rotation with the likes of Oswalt, but the Nationals made sure that feeling didn't last. The Phils can only hope that Oswalt can carry over his dominating pitching to the NL East and put them over the top.
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