Heading into Friday evening's contest at Philadelphia, the Nationals had dropped six of their last eight games, averaging a mere 2.5 runs per in the process. Suffice it to say, whatever amount of frustration had built up for the two-time defending N.L. East champs, it was all unleashed on the Phillies last night.

By the time the Phillies got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, they were already down by 11 runs against a Nationals’ lineup that had scored at least three runs in three of the first four frames. The Nats would go on to add a half-dozen more tallies, bringing their total output to 17 runs for the 10-run blowout victory.

Rookie phenom Juan Soto set the pace for the Nationals, as the 19-year-old outfielder recorded his first multi-homer performance at the show. He finished the night 4-for-6 with five RBI and three runs scored, continuing a most impressive start to his MLB career. Through 35 games in the bigs, Soto sports a .336/.446/.621 slash line with eight home runs and nine doubles.

 

In Case You Missed It

Keon Broxton delivered in a big way for the Brewers during an 8-2 win at Cincinnati on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a pair of deep drives, four RBI, three runs and a steal. Not only did he deliver at the plate, but Broxton put his ability in the outfield on display as well. Take a look.

Talk about getting ahold of one, Mike Zunino launched a fifth-inning delivery from Royals hurler Ian Kennedy into the Seattle stratosphere Friday night. Zunino’s 12th homer of the season came down in the second-to-last row of seats in Safeco Field’s top deck and Statcast clocked the baseball at a ridiculous 116 mph off the bat.

The other member of Seattle’s battery enjoyed his night at the ballpark as well. After surrendering 11 earned runs across 12.1 combined innings during respective road starts at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, Marco Gonzales was certainly glad to be back home facing a far less potent Kansas City lineup. The 26-year-old lefty logged the first complete game of his MLB career, limiting the Royals to just one run on six hits and no walks while punching out seven across nine frames.

 

Saturday on the Hill

On the DL since June 3 due to a hamstring injury, the Nationals will send Jeremy Hellickson to the mound as they try to make it back-to-back wins over the Phillies. Hellickson was having a sensational season prior to being knocked out of the Washington rotation for four weeks, as he will carry a 2.28 ERA (3.27 FIP) and 0.92 WHIP into Saturday’s meeting with one of his former clubs.

From a current National to a former one, Edwin Jackson was very solid in his season debut for the A’s this past Monday. The veteran righty found the zone with 55-of-80 pitches while allowing only one run on six hits with no walks and seven strikeout over 6.0 innings at Detroit. Jackson has a tougher task on his hands this afternoon, as the Indians are visiting Oakland.

 

Streaking

Shin-Soo Choo (TEX) - 12 games - 1.099 OPS, 18-for-49, 3 HR

Ozzie Albies (ATL) - 9 games - 1.098 OPS, 18-for-42, 1 HR, 6 2B

Avisail García (CWS) - 9 games - .842 OPS, 12-for-38, 2 HR

 

You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.