Turner on ninth-inning gaffe, Rendon makes it through return

Trea Turner got caught off of first base in the ninth inning attempting to get to second base on a possible hit and run.

It was a play Turner would certainly love to have back, but the biggest takeaway from the Nationals' 3-1 loss to the Phillies Saturday was the pitching of Vince Velasquez.

Velasquez allowed only one hit, a solo homer by Wilmer Difo, in quieting the Nationals for five innings. The right-hander hit a batter, walked four and struck out four batters to improve to 2-4.

Manager Davey Martinez said Velasquez never allowed the Nats to get any sustained offense going. The Nats had two baserunners on at the same time against Velasquez only once. In the third, Tanner Roark was hit by pitch and two outs later, Anthony Rendon walked. But Matt Adams' strikeout ended the threat.

"He was tough," Martinez said of Velasquez. "He pitched really well. He elevated his fastball, threw breaking balls, kept us off-balance. He was really good today."

The first hit and first run came courtesy of Difo's bat. He launched a solo shot with one out in the fifth.

"I just went with the same approach of just putting the ball in play, hitting the ball hard," Difo said through interpreter Octavio Martinez. "That at-bat, I was looking for the same thing, and I got a good pitch to hit. I was able to hit it hard and it worked out for me."

Following Velasquez's departure, the Phillies bullpen allowed no runs on one hit for four frames.

In the ninth, facing Phillies closer Hector Neris, pinch-hitter Turner walked. On the next pitch, Turner raced toward second base. Pinch-hitter Matt Wieters swung and popped up to shallow right field and into second baseman César Hernández's glove. With Turner standing at second base, Hernández threw back to first for the double play.

"Usually, I hear the ball off the bat, so a lot of times if I hear it, I'll look up," Turner said. "I didn't hear it that time. I knew (shortstop Pedro) Florimón didn't have the ball, I just figured it was like a passed ball or something, that he was trying to get me to stay at second base.

"So by the time I realized, I looked up and saw Matt Wieters running down the first base line. It kind of confused me. It happens. If I hear it, I think I look up and run back and everything is fine. I happened to not hear it."

Davey Martinez had no regrets that the play did not work. He said aggressive baserunning will lead to more Nationals runs. This time, it did not.

"I've said it before, we play aggressive," Martinez said. "We had the information. (Neris) just threw four balls. We had the information, he's very slow. (Turner) went. After four balls, we thought we had a chance to maybe stay out of a double play there. Obviously, we hit into a double play.

"But you know, you can't blame us losing that game on that. We had two hits. Roark gave us a good chance to win the game. (Wander) Suero came in and pitched really, really well. So, hey, I tip my hat to Velasquez, really. He pitched well. Their bullpen came in and pitched well."

A Difo strikeout ended the game. The loss was the Nats' first since April 28, snapping a season-high six-game win streak.

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman was a late scratch from the starting lineup with stiffness in his side following a tumble in Friday night's game. Martinez opted not to use him as a pinch-hitter after checking in with him late in the game.

"He was still stiff," Martinez said. "I talked to him around the seventh inning. I didn't want to use him. We'll see how he feels tomorrow."

Third baseman Anthony Rendon returned from the disabled list and went 0-for-2 with two walks.

"It felt good to be back," Rendon said.

Martinez said Rendon making it through the entire game after being off for so long was a positive. He plans to start Rendon on Sunday.

"He looked good," Martinez said. "He looked real good. Had some good walks. Ran well. So, he'll be out there tomorrow."

Roark (2-3) finished 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.