Before this afternoon’s 4-2 loss to Philadelphia’s Phillies, the Washington Nationals’ pitchers, as a group had allowed 11 home runs, nine of them given up by Nationals’ relievers.
After today’s game, it was 12 home runs allowed, 10 by the Nats’ relief corps.
Joe Blanton was the victim today, giving up a two-run home run by Cesar Hernandez in the eighth inning that put the Phillies ahead for good.
It was the third straight outing in which the veteran reliever got taken deep, after he gave up a total of seven home runs in each of the last two seasons, over 76 and 80 IP.