Time: 2:57
Attendance: 32,261
Because of the huge “Something In The Water” music festival finishing
up on Sunday, we decided to use Metro rather than worrying about whether we would
be able to find parking. That wound up going relatively well, with smooth
transfers, no unexpected delays or other incidents, and
(to my relief, despite donning an N95 mask) cars that were not packed like
sardines. The unusually early 12:05 start time (courtesy of one of MLB’s streaming
partners) prevented us from having our usual leisurely lunch before going into
the park, so we took a chance with the Nats Park concessions (everything actually
went relatively smoothly). I had a cheesesteak “witout”
in honor of the Phillies being in town. An additional drawback to the early
start was that our seats were in the sun until mid-game, instead of for just an
inning or two. (That sun was hot, although it was a beautiful, mild day
overall.) Although certain other individuals predicted a large crowd, I personally
was shocked that they sold over 30,000 tickets, especially since they had
struggled to draw 25,000 for earlier games with bobblehead giveaways and other
big promotions.
The home team took control early, leaving no doubt that it would
end its losing streak at eight games. They put up four runs in the second
inning off Phils starter Zach Eflin, climaxed by a massive 3-run homer by
previously-struggling franchise cornerstone Juan Soto. Philadelphia scored in
the 4th and 5th thanks to Washington errors, but the Nats
answered back both times to maintain a comfortable lead.
Jackson Tetreault, making only his second appearance in the
bigs, became only the third Washington starting pitcher this season to complete
seven innings, holding the visitors to six hits (all singles) while walking
only two, and finishing the 7th despite taking a hard comebacker off
his left shin. In a nice Father’s Day touch, both of his parents were in the
stands to witness his first major-league victory.
Not surprisingly, fans of the red-hot Phillies showed up in
force for the finale of the 5-game series. Since Philadelphia won the first
four games, we were not as upset by Sunday’s outcome as we otherwise might have
been.
