Nationals can only shrug off rare loss to Philly

If the Nationals are fortunate enough to have reason to create a 2016 Year-in-Review video, tonight's 4-1 loss to the Phillies most certainly won't merit even a passing reference.

Perhaps the most notable thing about this game was the mere fact that the Nationals lost to the Phillies. That hadn't happened since April 28, after which the Nats won nine consecutive matchups with their rebuilding division foes.

"I didn't know it, but after the game somebody told me we had beaten them nine in a row," manager Dusty Baker said. "That's tough in the big leagues. I guess the law of averages wasn't on our side tonight, us hitting the ball right at people."

Indeed, the Nationals did hit the ball right at people all night. Fifteen of the 27 outs they made came on balls that left the bat at 90 mph or harder. Nine outs came on balls with exit velocities of at least 95 mph.

For comparison's sake, the Phillies hit only nine balls 90 mph or harder the entire game, no matter the result.

"Good process, just didn't have a lot of stuff fall," said Daniel Murphy, who lined out and drove a ball to the warning track. "Hit some balls hard tonight. I thought the process was good. Just didn't have anything to show for it."

There have been games this season in which the Nationals stranded a bunch of runners in scoring position, striking out in key situations, chasing bad pitches when patience was called for. This, however, wasn't one of those games, and so Baker couldn't find much fault with his hitters.

"There's nothing you can do about the hard-hit balls," the manager said. "I mean, the more times you hit the ball, the better chance you have of getting hits, because it cuts down the opposition's reaction time. But if we were doing a bunch of striking out, and popping up and ground balls, you'd be a little more concerned. But, there's not a whole bunch you can do."

On another night, the Nationals might have been able to string together enough hits to make a winner out of A.J. Cole. Instead, the rookie right-hander was left to take the loss after a start that featured plenty of positives, but one rough inning that proved the difference.

Cole struck out eight and didn't walk a batter, but he did make two mistakes in the top of the third. Both resulted in home runs: Peter Bourjos' solo shot off the left field foul pole on a 1-0 fastball, and Ryan Howard's three-run blast to left-center on a 1-2 changeup.

Cole wasn't terribly upset with his pitch to Howard, but he also learned the hard way that a good pitch at the Triple-A level can still lead to bad results in the big leagues, especially against a slugger who has made a career out of driving pitches down-and-away over the left-center field fence.

"Howard hit a good pitch," Cole said. "But at the same time, if I'm going to throw that changeup, I've got to throw it in the ground, or just throw the fastball in. Something different than that. I threw him four changeups, I think, the first time. And he's going to sit on it the second time."

All things considered, this wasn't a discouraging start for Cole, who has exceeded admittedly low expectations in his four major league outings this season.

The Nationals are probably going to continue to need effective performances from the 24-year-old, especially with Stephen Strasburg now sidelined again with a strained flexor mass in his right elbow.

"Now that that we don't have Stephen - hopefully we can have him back, I don't know when - but everybody's got to get ready," catcher Jose Lobaton said. "We've got young guys that I know they can throw. And hopefully (Felipe) Lopez and A.J. can be good for the team."