WASHINGTON -- A bruise on his right hip ended Anibal Sanchez's Nationals debut prematurely, as he exited in the fifth inning of Wednesday's 9-8 walk-off win over the Phillies. 

Sanchez sustained the injury in the third inning, when he came up hobbling after catching a line drive comebacker off the bat of Andrew McCutchen. Sanchez was still feeling the the effects by the time he began warming up to begin the fifth and the Nats decided to remove him from the game. 

“He started getting really stiff, so we had to take him out,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He couldn't get on his legs. He's got a nice bruise.”

Sanchez is confident that he will make his next scheduled start and he expects the bruise on his hip to calm down after a few days. 

Martinez and the training staff came out to check on Sanchez on three separate occasions, following that initial incident in the third inning and again during Sanchez’s at-bat in the fourth. The final time was after he tried to throw a few warmup pitches before the start of the fifth inning.

Sanchez gave up four runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts in a no-decision against the Phillies, in what was the right-hander's first outing in more than a week after he started the Nats' exhibition game nine days ago against the Yankees.

"Long way to be here, I waited for many days to get an opportunity here and show this team what I got, what I prepared for," Sanchez said. "To go out in that situation and the way that I went out is really disappointing."