Nats drop game 1 to Phillies 4-3 OR Sorrows in Southside

What a tough way to begin a road series.

The Nats ran into early trouble last night in Philadelphia as starter Jason Bergmann exited in the 3rd inning with a baserunning injury, and the bullpen couldn't contain the Phillies hitters, as the Nats lost 4-3.

Bergmann left due to an Achilles injury, after allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. He threw 52 pitches for 31 strikes (60%), an awful lot of pitches for 2.1 innings. He gave up a homerun, a walk and struck out 1. The bullpen of Billy Traber, Chris Booker (who got credited with the blown save, despite not giving up any hits or runs), Saul Rivera, Ray King and Luis Ayala did their best, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Unfortunately, Ayala gave up the tie-breaking homerun.

Ryan Report: Not a lot here. Church went 0 for 3 and was walked, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with a double, Langerhans 0 for 4 and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 2 with a walk.

The other Nats hits came from Felipe Lopez, Ronnie Belliard, and an impressive bases-clearing double from Brian Schneider, which put the Nats ahead briefly 3-2.

Tough night, but not a discouraging one. The Nats can take a lot into Wednesday's game.