Tough outing for Roark as Nationals split doubleheader

PHILADELPHIA - The Phillies pounded out 16 hits as the Nationals fell 8-5, ending a season-best eight-game winning streak. Having burned Gio Gonzalez in yesterday's delayed postponement, Nationals manager Matt Williams made the call to start Tanner Roark in the second game of today's doubleheader.

"He knew yesterday he was going to get the second game today," Williams said of Roark. "He was prepared."

The Phillies pelted Roark with a barrage of ground balls that the Nationals were never quite positioned in the right place to field. Eleven of the 12 hits the Phillies rapped off Roark were singles, but the small ball was enough to plate four runs in the second and another four in the fourth off the Nationals right-hander.

"The team needed a guy to start and I was fit for the job," Roark said after giving up the career-high 12 hits. "I felt fine out there, felt comfortable. Just one of those game where you have no control. You can throw whatever you want up there and it just seems to get hit. It's not like I'm out here asking for sympathy or anything like that. It's baseball and one of those games."

Roark had gone 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts from May 25-June 16 before heading back to the bullpen where he last pitched two scoreless frames on Tuesday. But tonight, Roark labored through 82 pitches over 3 1/3 innings before Williams called for left-hander Felipe Rivero in relief.

Rivero gave up another single and then a sacrifice fly to Carlos Ruiz scoring Domonic Brown for the eighth and final run charged to Roark, also a career-high. His season ERA jumps to 4.34.

"Just up in the zone a little bit," Williams said about Roark's outing. "They had some balls that snuck through. They did a nice job of staying on baseballs and making contact and hitting it through the middle of the diamond. But a lot of grounders today that got through the infield, a couple balls off the end of the bat. Yeah, not his day."

Trailing by four to start the fourth, the Nationals battled back after Yunel Escobar led off with a double to right and then Clint Robinson drove him home on a single to left. Ian Desmond followed with a mammoth blast to center off Phillies starter Severino Gonzalez. The two-run homer was measured at a staggering 453 feet, pulling the Nats to within one.

"Just barrel it up," Desmond said on his approach before the blast. "I was feeling good that at-bat. Felt good my first at-bat. I was just trying to keep taking the same swing and telling myself 'don't change anything.' Hit it out."

The Nationals kept chipping away on a solo homer from Jose Lobaton in the sixth and another RBI single from Robinson in the seventh.

"We kept fighting, against a guy we didn't know," Williams said. "We'd never seen (Gonzalez) before. Desi had a big homer for us, got us back in it. We had some opportunities today, not quite enough of them in the second one."

Right-handers Casey Janssen and Blake Treinen along with the lefty Rivero prevented further damage with 4 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, but the Nationals couldn't claw all the way back, settling for a split in the twinbill.

"Long day," Robinson said. "Doubleheaders always are. Won the first game to take the series. No matter who the team is, it's pretty hard to sweep a team on the road. So took two out of three, and now we're gonna go on to Atlanta and try and win some games there."

Denard Span (back) and Bryce Harper (right hamstring) returned to the field in the first game, both hitting doubles. Williams anticipates Span and Harper, along with Escobar (left hand contusion), will all be available for Tuesday's series opener in Atlanta.