Game 8: Fightin Phils 5, Senators 4 (Video Highlights)
Game 9: Fightin Phils 5, Senators 1 (Video Highlights)

BREAKING OUT: After starting the season mired in a 0-for-18 slump, Drew Vettleson rapped out an RBI triple and two mammoth home runs in the doubleheader. “He just needed to relax a little bit. I could tell after the triple he took a deep breath and smiled,” manager Brian Daubach said, “There’s a lot of potential there. He’s new to us. It’s not easy coming to a new organization. I’m sure he’s trying to make an impression and to get off to a slow start is tough.”

RIGHTING THE SHIP: Rob Gilliam barely made it through one inning during his first start of the season last week in Bowie. After a couple of batters, it appeared that Saturday night’s outing wasn’t going to be much better for the righthander. But Gilliam settled down and retired 12 of the last 15 batters he faced. Daubach commented on his outing, “I thought Gilly threw the ball nice. The first inning has been a struggle all year. He was able to limit damage there and just gave up a solo homer in the second. I thought he came back and threw the ball well. He kept us in the game and actually allowed us to tie the game up.”

THE FIRST NINE GAMES IN A NUTSHELL: “It’s the little things that are killing us, and it stands out when we have so many close games.” – – Daubach on the mental and physical errors.

NO MORE STREAKING: Caleb Ramsey took the collar in four at-bats during the first game ending his seven-game hitting streak. After another hitless game in the nightcap, Ramsey is now batting .345 on the season.

VIEW FROM THE CELLAR: The doubleheader sweep moves the Senators to a 1-8 record and 4.5 games behind league-leading Bowie and Richmond. You have to go back to the 2000 season to find a Senators’ squad starting out so poorly in the first nine games. That being said, two recent playoff teams (2010 and 2011) weren’t setting the world on fire after the first nine games either as they went 2-7 and 3-6 respectively.

GETTING THE CALL: Earlier today, pitcher Blake Treinen and outfielder Steven Souza were promoted from Syracuse to Washington. Treinen didn’t have to wait long to make his MLB debut as he worked two scoreless innings of relief in the Nationals’ 6-3 loss to Atlanta. By my math, he became the 69th former Senator to make his major league debut since 2005.

MAKING HISTORY DURING THE HI/LO GAME: For those unfamiliar with the between innings Hi-Lo game, a man is asked a question like “Out of 25 Senators players, how many believe in aliens?” He’ll throw out a wild-ass guess and his wife/girlfriend/sidepiece will say whether she thinks the actual number is higher or lower than his guess. This was a game that was played for pretty much every home game last season and not a single time did the guy guess the right number with his guess. Well, two games into this season and we’ve already made history as the gentleman pictured above with Bob Hauer will go down in the annals of time as the greatest Hi/Lo player ever.