By Harry Allison
Howie Kendrick’s bases-loaded triple sparked the Phillies to 12 runs for the biggest first inning in team history, and the Phillies routed the Washington Nationals 17-3 last night.
The Phils piled up nine hits and four walks off Jeremy Guthrie (0-1) and Enny Romero in the first. The Phillies didn’t hit any homers in the inning, but did have three doubles. Maikel Franco, Michael Saunders and Tommy Joseph each had two RBIs while Washington set a team mark for runs allowed in an inning.
Perhaps even more troubling for the Nationals, shortstop Trea Turner was lifted with an apparent leg injury after rounding third base in the first inning.
Kendrick (above) had three hits and four RBIs for the game, Saunders had three hits and two RBIs and Cameron Rupp homered and drove in three.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola (1-0) pitched six solid innings, allowing three runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out seven. The right-hander was 1-5 with a 9.82 ERA in his final eight starts last season before being shut down with a right elbow strain in August. A rough spring training didn’t ease concerns about the 2014 first-round pick, but last night’s outing likely did.
Nola had plenty of room for error after the Phils nearly matched the franchise mark for runs in an inning, set with 13 in the fourth at Cincinnati in 2003. The Nationals’ previous worst inning was a 10-spot by the Milwaukee Brewers on April 18, 2010.
Guthrie was pitching in the majors for the first time since 2015. He was lifted after Odubel Herrera’s RBI infield single made it 9-0. His final line wasn’t pretty: 10 runs, six hits and four walks in two-thirds of an inning.
Andres Blanco also homered for Philly, which snapped a seven-game home losing streak to the Nationals while winning for just the second time in the last 15 overall against Washington.
Saunders was a homer shy of the cycle.
Washington’s Daniel Murphy continued his hot start with three hits and two doubles to raise his average to .524. He has at least two hits in all five games.
The Nats put their first two batters on base in the first, and then Murphy laced a one-out single to right, but third base coach Bob Henley held Turner to load the bases for Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman grounded sharply to third, and Franco made a strong play to step on the bag and fire to first base for a 5-3, inning-ending double play.
