Brad Hand threw 34 pitches in 1 1⁄3 innings pitched in the first of two with the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night, so he wasn’t available out of the bullpen in the second game for the Washington Nationals in the City of Brotherly Love on Wednesday afternoon.
In a fairly ridiculous and ridiculously long 4-hour, 19-minute matchup in the Phillies’ home, the Nationals threw starter Erick Fedde and relievers Kyle McGowin, Wander Suero, Sam Clay, Justin Miller, Austin Voth, and Tanner Rainey, and with a 13-12 lead after eight and a half innings, manager Davey Martinez turned to Paolo Espino in the bottom of the ninth in the veteran right-hander’s first MLB save opportunity, which followed seven days after the 34-year-old pitcher started and earned his first MLB win, 15 years after he was drafted.