Phillies lose to Nationals, but Jake Thompson shows progress

As the Phillies tested a rookie's limits, a smattering of cheers spread across the smallest crowd of the season at Citizens Bank Park. Jake Thompson lugged a 9.78 ERA into Monday night's 4-0 loss to the first-place Nationals. There he stood, one pitch from completing seven innings.

Washington rookie Trea Turner fouled a fastball and a change-up. Thompson gained much-needed confidence deeper into the night. So he had enough conviction to throw a full-count slider for his 111th pitch.

It froze Turner. Thompson yelled.

"I was pumped," he said.

Thompson had struck out the side to conclude the longest - and most rewarding - start of his nascent major-league career. Ever since his shaky debut, the 22-year-old righthander has appeared unsettled.

The Phillies lost. And, still, it felt like something was accomplished in front of 16,056 fans because Thompson found some peace Monday. It began with a bullpen session two days earlier in New York.

Pitching coach Bob McClure dissected Thompson, touted as a control pitcher in the minors but one who walked 13 batters in his first four major-league starts. Try this, McClure told him: Do not raise your hands above your head in the windup and do not start the motion with a step backward.

"We just tried to simplify his delivery, really," McClure said. "That's all."

It became a modified version of the stretch. Lift the front leg and go. The initial results in the bullpen session were enough to convince McClure to ride it. The two met again Sunday at Citi Field for a second bullpen session of about 15 pitches. Both were sold on the idea.

Thompson called it "huge."

"I've always taken the step back with the rock and turn," Thompson said. "After watching some video and talking with him, I kind of decided that's where most of my mistakes were coming from."

How did he adjust in three days?

"It's really easy on the body to repeat," Thompson said. "That's why I think I had some success."

His two runs allowed in seven innings marked progress, although Thompson owed much of it to luck. Washington hit him hard all night; a stiff summer wind prevented some deep flies from traveling over the wall. The Nationals dinged Thompson for two runs in a 13-minute first inning, including a Jayson Werth homer on Thompson's seventh pitch of the night.

But Thompson recovered. He walked just one. He lowered his ERA to 7.86.

Anthony Rendon ended the sixth with a 390-foot out to center that may have cleared the wall on most nights. Thompson pounded his right fist into his glove. But, at a mere 85 pitches, the Phillies decided to extend him. They want to learn about their young pitchers, and that requires putting them in difficult situations.

"I thought about getting him out after six, just to keep him positive," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "But I felt like he was pitching too well. I let him go."

Mackanin, along with others inside the clubhouse, had urged Thompson to relax. When asked about what had bothered Thompson - nerves, command, mechanics - Mackanin said: "I think it's a combination of everything."

There is a different kind of anxiety in the majors.

"When you get here, there is nowhere else to go," Mackanin said. "That has to enter into it. I know I was scared to death when I was 21 and first time in the big leagues. It took me a while to get through it. He might say he's fine and confident and not nervous, but . . . he's a liar."

The manager smiled.

"It takes a while to settle in," he said.

McClure sensed some anger in Thompson as his problems mounted.

"But he wasn't deflated," McClure said. "We felt like we should keep starting him because he didn't seem beat. He seems like a tough kid mentally."

With a tweak, Thompson looked like he belonged - at least for one night.

mgelb@philly.com

@MattGelb