But Walker has a pretty solid glove of his own. After Riley Adams singled to open up the home half of the second, a comebacker from Luis García Jr. turned into an out at second. A double play then ended the inning. With yet another smooth, unconcerning frame from Walker, the era of good feelings between the fanbase and Walker continued.

The 33-year-old righty’s day veered off course in the fifth inning. Dylan Crews reached on a one-out walk and Brady House hit a seeing-eye single into center field. Walker struck out Jacob Young, but James Wood gave Washington the lead by lacing a Walker splitter into the right-center gap for a two-RBI double.

Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker has provided manager Rob Thomson reason to give his taxed rotation a bit of a breather with the impending return of Aaron Nola from the injured list.