HEADLINE

Nationals prepare to face Phillies, Harper

Field Level Media

June 17, 2019 at 4:22 am.

Matt Adams got healthy just in time for the Phillies.

And the Nationals hope that is the case for catcher Kurt Suzuki, who was hit in the neck in the seventh inning Sunday when a pitch from Tanner Rainey bounced in the dirt and then caught him.

Washington manager Dave Martinez said Sunday that Suzuki should be fine when the Phillies come to town to begin a four-game series on Monday night.

“Obviously we all know who we are playing. They are ahead of us,” Martinez said of the Phillies.

Both teams were involved in blowouts Sunday. Adams, who avoided a trip to the Injured List on the last road trip, hit two homers and drove in a career-high seven RBIs as the Nationals won 15-5 over Arizona. The Phillies lost 15-1 in Atlanta to the Braves.

Harper, who signed as a free agent with Philadelphia, will make his second trip to the nation’s capital as a visiting player on Monday.

Harper was 5-for-7 in two games at Washington in April, with a double, homer and three RBIs. The starting pitchers for the first of four games: Jake Arrieta (6-5, 4.31) of the Phillies against Patrick Corbin (5-5, 4.11) of Washington.

“We know we have a tough series,” said Nationals starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez, who won his 100th career game Sunday.

Arrieta is 1-2, 5.07 in 14 career starts against Washington.

He has lasted just 71 innings in those starts — just over 5.0 per outing — and has not beaten the Nationals since 2015.

Corbin has struggled in his last three starts after he signed with Washington prior to this season.

The Washington offense has been on fire, as Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendon and Adam Eaton each had three hits Sunday. Rendon and Suzuki also homered, with Rendon going deep for the 16th time and lifting his average to .321.

Kendrick, a former Phillie, is batting .333. Over his last 16 games, he is hitting .426 with four doubles, five homers and 18 runs scored.

Adams hit the second grand slam of his career Sunday, while Eaton reached base in all five of his trips to the plate.

Eaton is 12-for-28 (.429) with a double, triple, homer, four RBIs, five walks and five runs scored in his last eight games.

Rendon was the third Washington player to go deep Sunday against reliever Zack Godley. Rendon, who is making a bid for his first All-Star appearance, is batting .340 this month with six homers.

New Phillie Jay Bruce has been dealing with hamstring issues after he had to leave Saturday’s game with the Braves.

“I got to the point where, I felt like if I did try, I thought I might actually injure it instead of it just being tight,” Bruce told MLB.com Saturday. “Kind of take tomorrow and we’ll see, but I don’t anticipate it being longer than a day or two.”

The Phillies are 16-18 on the road this season and 16-11 in the National League East.

Washington is 17-17 at home and 16-15 in the division.

The teams split two games in Washington in early April then the Nationals won two of three in Philly later in April.

Philadelphia took two of three from the visiting Nationals May 3-5.

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