Rangel solid across 5 innings in audition for spot in Phils' rotation

WASHINGTON -- As the Phillies look to fill the void in their rotation without Andrew Painter, righty Alan Rangel will be given the opportunity to claim the spot.

In Monday’s series opener against the Nationals, Rangel passed his first test.

Hours after his recall from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he tossed a career-high five innings, limiting the Majors’ highest scoring team to one run and five hits, with four strikeouts and no walks. The Phillies, though, were unable to give Rangel the necessary run support and ultimately fell to Washington, 4-1, on Monday at Nationals Park after an hour and 32-minute rain delay.

Rangel was making just his second big league appearance this season, tossing three innings of relief against the Cubs on April 22. But interim manager Don Mattingly said pregame that Rangel will get an extended look with this promotion.

“At this point, we’ve kind of made a commitment to that spot,” Mattingly said. “I’m not saying we’re making a commitment to a full start every time – it could be an opener, it could be starting.”

But at the very least, the 28-year-old, who has spent parts of 12 seasons in the Minors, will get his shot.

“We’ll see what he can do,” Mattingly said. “He’s been throwing the ball well. The last time he came up, we felt like he threw the ball well. So, we’ll see what it looks like.”

Against the Nationals, the Phillies went with lefty Tim Mayza as an opener. James Wood led off the first with a double and scored two batters later when Dylan Crews ripped a single to right.

Rangel came on for the second, with Luis García Jr. belting an 80 mph changeup deep to right for his 11th home run of the season. The one-out solo blast gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead, but Rangel held the Nationals in check from there.

Relying primarily on off-speed offerings, Rangel threw 51 of his 72 pitches for strikes. He avoided any sustained rallies and worked out of any potential jams with the Nationals putting a runner on base in each of Rangel’s five innings.

Rangel faced Wood twice with a runner on first and struck him out swinging on changeups both times. With a runner on second and two out in the sixth, Rangel finished his night striking out Nasim Nuñez on three pitches.

Brandon Marsh got the Phillies on the board in the seventh with a solo homer to right off Nationals lefty Foster Griffin. That was the only scoring the Phillies could muster against Griffin, who tossed a career-high 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run and four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.

The Nationals added insurance in the last of the seventh with Curtis Mead’s two-run homer off Seth Johnson.