Phillies fall to Scherzer and the Nationals

WASHINGTON - Odubel Herrera flinched as the baseball ricocheted off the wall and flew past him. The centerfielder had chased Ian Desmond's fly ball too far in the sixth inning of Friday's 2-1 loss to Washington. Now it was too late.

The ball bounced away and into the Nationals Park outfield. It was eventually picked up by Grady Sizemore and relayed home. Herrera's gaffe allowed Washington pitcher Max Scherzer just enough time to score from first base. The pitcher even stumbled around third.

A matchup with the division's top team allowed a thin margin of error. This proved to push the limits. Desmond's double scored Sean O'Sullivan's second and final run. The Phillies pitcher held his own against Scherzer, one of the game's elite arms. O'Sullivan retired two of the next three batters to end the inning.

"I don't know if it was curling out there but he ran out to the short wall, which would have been a home run," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said about Herrera's play. "Maybe, he had a little bit of an off read on where the ball was. Clearly, it was way up on the wall."

O'Sullivan allowed five hits, walked a batter, and struck out three in six innings. The righthander has pitched at least five innings in each of his six starts.

"Definitely a confidence builder," O'Sullivan said. "It feels good to take the mound and have my team feel like we've got a chance to win that day. Give it all I've got and let my defense play."

Herrera drove in the team's lone run with a second-inning double. The rookie stayed patient with two outs before cracking the double off the center-field wall. Maikel Franco hustled home from first, losing his batting helmet as he ran to third.

Scherzer pitched eight innings. He struck out six and walked one. It was his second eight-inning, one-run effort this season against the Phillies. Scherzer was replaced in the ninth for closer Drew Storen, which appeared to be a relief for the Phillies.

Chase Utley led off with a single. Franco then singled with one out. Grady Sizemore made the inning's second out on a first-pitch pop-up. Herrera struck out to end the game. The relief was short lived.

The Phillies seemed to hit Scherzer hard in the early innings, but had little to show. Ryan Howard hit a double off the wall two batters before Herrera's double. Freddy Galvis flew out to the warning track in the third. Sizemore did the same in the fourth. Utley added a double in the sixth.

O'Sullivan's first run scored in the second inning on a home run to Bryce Harper, who has proven to be thorn in the pitcher's side. It was Harper's sixth at-bat this season against O'Sullivan. And his third hit, all of which have been homers. It looked like the precursor of a long night for O'Sullivan. Instead, he settled down.

O'Sullivan retired 12 of the next 13 batters in order. He then gave up a single to Scherzer, who scored two batters later. It stung, O'Sullivan said, that the opposing pitcher scored the go-ahead run.

O'Sullivan was pleased to get out of the inning with just one run allowed. He worked himself out of trouble and kept the Phillies in the game. But in a game of thin margins, it proved to be one run too many.

@matt_breen