Best pitching matchup

Julio Teheran against Washington’s Doug Fister on Saturday night. And now for something completely different — Fister is a 6-foot-8 finesse pitcher with a three-quarters delivery and fastball that tops out at 91 mph. This has equated to a 5-1 record and a 2.68 ERA, lowest in the rotation. Despite bringing a 44-50 record from five years in the American League with the Tigers and Mariners, and missing the first month of the season with a sore back, he has been the Nationals’ most effective starter with five consecutive victories. Teheran has caused problems for the Nationals, accumulating a career 3-1 record against them with a 2.93 ERA in seven starts.

The skinny: The Phillies fans, those who are still paying attention, are, at best, indifferent. Writes Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News about the decline in attendance of more than 250,000 year over year: “This slow march to irrelevancy is so painful to watch. Battered by the populace for decades over issues of cheapness and incompetency, the Phillies’ thrill-filled run during much of the last decade flooded those toss-up municipalities (who have other teams to cheer for). Their minor leagues finally bore fruits, they built a great park, they hired a folksy manager right out of central casting and the people came, and came, and came. Today? Not so much.”

Series history: Braves lead 360-318 and the teams are 5-5 in the past 10 but Braves are 15-10 in the past 25. Last 10 games (through Thursday): 4-6 State of the union: This is what happens when your roster gets old and you don’t start the rebuilding process soon enough: The Phillies are in last place in the NL East, trailing even the New York Mets. Philadelphia won back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time in three weeks when Reid Brignac hit a three-run homer in the ninth of a scoreless game against the San Diego Padres and then won again Thursday. The Phillies last won three consecutive games May 17-20.

Three things: 1) Cole Hamels has been one of the few bright spots for the Phillies. He missed 20 games with biceps tendinitis, but in his past seven starts has a 1.78 ERA and 56 strikeouts and 15 walks in 50 ⅔ innings. However, his pitch count is growing — 115, 115 and 125 in his past three starts; 2) Things you hang onto when you’re struggling: Fans cheered this past week when 27-year-old left-handed reliever Jake Diekman reached 100 mph on the radar gun. The Phillies are trying to rebuild their bullpen around Diekman and Ken Giles, 23, a right-handed power arm; 3) Domonic Brown, the Phillies’ great hope among young players from Redan High in Stone Mountain, who hit .272 with 27 homers a season ago, is batting .211 with only four homers.

The Phillies’ Reid Brignac is about to be mobbed by teammates after his walk-off three-run homer in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Phillies won 3-0.