Phillies at Nationals: April 12th through April 14th

Nationals Park - Washington, DC
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 7:05

Records: Phillies 7-2, 1st Place in N.L. East (2 games ahead of the Marlins); Nationals 4-5, 3rd Place in N.L. East (3 games behind the Phillies)

First Game: On April 17, 1969, Montreal Expos pitcher Bill Stoneman pitched a no-hitter against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. Stoneman walked five and struck out eight during his gem. Jerry Johnson took the loss for the Phillies as both Rusty Staub and Coco Laboy had four hits apiece for the Expos. There were just 6,496 paying fans in attendance that day to watch Bob Skinner’s Phillies team get embarrassed by Gene Mauch’s expansion team.

Know Your Nationals: Manager - Jim Riggleman took over the team on July 14, 2009
Starters - Ivan Rodriguez (c), Adam LaRoche (1b), Danny Espinosa (2b), Alex Cora (3b), Ian Desmond (ss), Mike Morse (lf), Rick Ankiel (cf), Jayson Werth (rf)
Rotation - Livan Hernandez (rhp), John Lannan (lhp), Jordan Zimmermann (rhp), Jason Marquis (rhp), Tom Gorzelanny (lhp)
Bench - Jesus Flores (c), Wilson Ramos (c), Jerry Hairston (inf), Laynce Nix (of), Matt Stairs (of)
Closer - Drew Storen (rhp)
Bullpen - Brian Broderick (rhp), Sean Burnett (lhp), Tyler Clippard (rhp), Todd Coffey (rhp), Chad Gaudin (rhp), Doug Slaten (lhp)
Disabled List - Elvin Ramirez (rhp), Henry Rodriguez (rhp), Stephen Strasburg (rhp), Chien-Ming Wang (rhp), Ryan Zimmerman (3b)

At the Ballpark:  It's the Nationals' 2011 home opener today.  Other than that, I'm a little shocked the team has absolutely no promotions scheduled during the Phillies three-game visit.  Werth's contract must have absorbed a lot of the stadium give-away and fan promotion budget.

Phillies Probables: Joe Blanton, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee
Nationals Probables: Livan Hernandez, John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann