Nats win laugher, head home above .500 (updated)

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals left town one week ago having survived a ragged homestand against the Mets and Phillies, with a mess of a bullpen, a shortstop with a broken finger and a daunting road trip looming against those same two division rivals.

The Nationals will return home tonight owners of a winning record, thanks to a potent lineup that scored 49 runs in six games, quality starting pitching, better bullpen work, and a renewed vibe that has allowed this club to relax and enjoy the ride after a wild opening stretch to a pressure-packed season.

Tonight's 15-1 drubbing of the Phillies was a fitting conclusion to this eventful trip. It was an absolute laugher for a team that had experienced so much stress to date in 2019 but over the last 24 hours has had its first chance to celebrate and simply enjoy baseball for the first time in a while.

"I said it all along: We're playing well," manager Davey Martinez said. "Our bullpen's starting to pitch the way they're capable of pitching. And we're swinging the bats. Like I said yesterday, I'm proud of the guys. They prepare every day. They play hard every day, every out."

Remember when the Nationals were down 6-1 Tuesday night, with Bryce Harper bringing the Citizens Bank Park crowd to its feet after a towering homer off Stephen Strasburg? Well, the tables have turned just a bit since then.

Since the sixth inning of Tuesday's game, which ignited the Nationals' stirring rally to win, they outscored the Phillies 24-1.

And because of all that, they'll head home with a 6-5 record, including back-to-back road series victories, free now to settle into the typical grind of the season with a homestand against the Pirates and Giants forthcoming.

"I feel like for the most part, we were in every game," first baseman Matt Adams said. "We battled til the end. That's what this team is capable of doing. We get guys on base, we drive them across the plate and we keep the line moving. That's kind of the mentality."

The outcome of tonight's game was never seriously in doubt. The Nationals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against Nick Pivetta (the one-time pitching prospect traded for Jonathan Papelbon four long years ago) and never looked back.

They kept adding on, thanks to big hits from Anthony Rendon (three-run double), Adams (RBI double) and Victor Robles (RBI triple), among others.

And they got exactly what they needed from Jeremy Hellickson in his first start of the season. The veteran right-hander, who had mostly sat in the bullpen over the last two weeks until his team needed a fifth starter, tossed six scoreless innings on 100 pitches.

"When you have a lead like that, you just want to stay out there as long as you can and save those guys (in the bullpen)," he said. "I felt really good."

And just as most of his pitching teammates did this week, Hellickson shut down Harper. He struck out the slugger with an 89 mph fastball, made a nice play on a slow roller to the left of the mound and then walked him in his final plate appearance before Phillies manager Gabe Kapler pulled him and other big-name regulars with the game out of hand.

Harper terrorized Nationals pitching last week in D.C., going 5-for-7 with a homer, three walks and two strikeouts. But aside from his homer off Strasburg, the $330 million man did very little in this series. He finished 1-for-9 with the homer and three walks (one intentional).

The only negative development on this night: Tony Sipp departed with a trainer after throwing only four pitches in relief with what the lefty described as shoulder stiffness. Sipp, who had warmed up in the bullpen several times over the last two games, said this is a typical condition for him during spring training. And given the fact he signed late, he still feels like he's in spring-training mode.

"Today's game really wasn't a big deal, so (Martinez) was just taking precautionary measures," Sipp said. "It was just a little soreness, but nothing out of the ordinary that I haven't felt before or haven't pitched through. But I just think the situation, he wanted to be more on the safe side."

Even then, the night concluded with a positive development: Trevor Rosenthal was given the opportunity to pitch the bottom of the ninth and proceeded to record his first three outs of the season after failing to retire the first nine batters he faced in a Nationals uniform. Rosenthal issued three walks and allowed a run, but he did finish the game and now finally owns an ERA of 72.00.

"He got three outs," Martinez said. "That's the key. He got three outs. Let's continue to build on that and move on."