PHILADELPHIA – What’s the mood in the clubhouse at the end of a 2-7 road trip? It’s not upbeat, that’s for sure. But in the Nationals’ case, neither was it downtrodden.
Sunday’s 11-5 loss to the Phillies may have been one of the Nats’ worst games of the season, but it wasn’t necessarily reflective of the way they played through the rest of their long trip to Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.
They lost seven games, yes. But five of those losses were by one or two runs. In each of those cases, one more timely hit or one more well-executed pitch would’ve flipped the script and produced a win for the visitors.
Recognizing that, the Nationals emerged from the carnage feeling more optimistic about the state of things than they probably should have felt.
“It was nine really good baseball games,” outfielder Jesse Winker said. “You hang your hat on that, then you get back home tomorrow and get some home cooking and give it hell.”