Something is odd at Nationals Park on Memorial Day Monday. No, it is not the unusual mismatching hats with the patriotic jerseys and no it isn't the hordes of visiting fans. The unusual thing is the scoreboard where the Nationals have taken a 4-3 lead on the Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay in the seventh-inning.
Usually when these two teams meet it is the Phillies and their fans who seem to have a good time at the Nationals expense, but Monday Washington isn't necessarily rolling over to the joys of what Nationals fans made it to the Park on this hot, holiday weekday.
The Nationals started the game out right with Michael Morse going solo in the second-inning while pitcher Livan Hernandez plated a run on a sacrifice bunt the same inning. The Phillies roared back though in the fourth when Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez hit back-to-back homers followed later in the inning by a Dominic Brown RBI single. Usually, this type of inning is enough to flatten the Nats, but second baseman Danny Espinosa wouldn't have it as he homered in the fifth-inning and then outfielder Laynce Nix followed suit in the sixth with a homer of his own to put the Nationals in front by one run.
Halladay for once is not making mince-meat of the Nationals giving up four runs on six hits in six-innings of work so far. That includes a first-inning where the Nationals did not score, but got the Philadelphia hurler to throw 20 pitches.