At the end of a brutal homestand that included 11 games in 10 days and left their pitching staff in shambles, the Nationals handed the ball to Jackson Tetreault, held their breath and hoped for the best.
Seven sparkling innings later, they exhaled and exulted, having watched the rookie right-hander author one of their best starts of the season, turning in the kind of pitching performance they desperately needed all week but finally got at the very end to emerge with a cathartic 9-3 victory over the Phillies.
Five days after an inauspicious major league debut, Tetreault put together a dazzling start against a tough lineup to earn his first career win and snap his team’s eight-game losing streak, not to mention a club record 12-game losing streak to the Phillies that extended back to last season.
"It's awesome," the seventh-round pick from the 2017 draft said. "Hopefully many more to come, but to get the first one under the belt is a really good feeling. And to be able to celebrate it with all the guys here was really cool."
Aided by an opportunistic lineup that got home runs from Juan Soto and Maikel Franco, Tetreault became only the third Nationals starter to complete seven innings this season, joining Erick Fedde and Patrick Corbin, who surprisingly did it on back-to-back nights at Coors Field in early May.