Phillies (0-0) at. Washington Nationals (0-0)
When: April 5-8
Where: Nationals Park
Probable Pitchers
Mon: Roy Halladay vs. John Lannan
Wed: Cole Hamels vs. Jason Marquis
Thurs: J.A. Happ vs. Craig Stammen
Player to watch: Adam Dunn. Dunn is a big-time power hitter. The left-handed slugging first baseman hit 38 homers last season and has put up some good games against the Phillies. But he strikes out a ton, which will be seen a lot this series against two strike-out pitchers for the Phillies in Halladay and Hamels. Dunn isn’t a great fielder at all (like many first basemen) so hitting hard balls his way could create some offense. Dunn, in late innings, is a threat to go yard and the pitchers will need to keep the ball down on him.
Series outlook: Opening Day couldn’t come any sooner for the Phillies or the fans. With expectations running higher than ever, the Phillies hope to start the season off with a bang and work their way towards another NL pennant. A lot of fans are making the trek down to D.C. so a lot of Phillies red will be filling the usually empty seats of the beautiful Nationals Park. The Nationals are possibly the worst team in baseball and anything less than a sweep will be to the result of early season jitters. A series loss will be a let-down and a loss or bad outing by Doc will leave the fans thoroughly upset.
TTB 