Phillies' Hellickson hopes to stay sharp vs. Nationals (Apr 15, 2017)

WASHINGTON -- Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he was ecstatic when Jeremy Hellickson headed out to pitch the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals on Sunday in Philadelphia.

Hellickson had thrown five scoreless innings and few Phillies starters had gone deep in games early on. But the right-hander came down with a cramp in his right arm and had to leave the game, which the Phillies won 4-3 with a walk-off RBI single in the ninth by Cesar Hernandez off Washington reliever Koda Glover.

"I think he got dehydrated, according to him," Mackanin said Friday of Hellickson.

Hellickson (1-0, 0.90 ERA) appears to have recovered and will start Saturday in Washington against Tanner Roark (2-0, 4.09 ERA), a right-hander for the Nationals. It will be a battle of Midwesterners as Hellickson hails from Iowa while Roark grew up in Illinois.

"According to him he is fine," Mackanin said of Hellickson, 29, in his second season with the Phillies. "He has been consistent" as a starter this year.

Hellickson is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA against Washington in the one start this year. For his career he is 1-3 with a 4.93 ERA in seven starts against the Nationals, having allowed 31 hits and 16 walks with 29 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings.

Mackanin said the Phillies will need a new starter Tuesday after right-hander Clay Buchholz suffered a partial tear of his right flexor pronator mass while pitching last week.

"We would rather keep everyone on line, especially this early in the season," Mackanin said of his starters.

In the bullpen Mackanin has been pleased with right-hander Luis Garcia, who threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout Wednesday against the New York Mets.

"I was happy to see that," Mackanin said.

On Saturday, the Phillies will have to contend with a familiar face in Roark, who is 5-5 with a 3.59 ERA in 12 games, including 10 starts, in his career against the Phillies. Roark won 16 games as a starter last year and 15 in 2014 in his first full season in the majors.

A University of Illinois product, Roark and the pitching staff are getting used to new catcher Matt Wieters.

The former Baltimore Orioles backstop signed with the Nationals once spring training had begun. He takes over the main role from Wilson Ramos, who signed with the Tampa Bay Rays after the 2016 season.

"Nine games is not enough to know somebody," Washington manager Dusty Baker said Friday of Wieters. "He is still in the process of learning our pitching staff."

Washington starter Max Scherzer, with Wieters behind the plate, threw three wild pitches on Wednesday. Last year he had two wild pitches all year.

Baker said that was not due to Wieters being the catcher. Told that Wieters took part of the blame for the wild pitches, Baker said: "That was noble."

Wieters is hitting .355.

"So, no, he hasn't caught up yet. He's still a little bit behind. His best days are yet to come, and ours, too," Baker said.

In the series opener Friday, the Phillies had their losing streak reach four games with a 3-2 loss, as Daniel Murphy had a walk-off double to score Bryce Harper with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Philadelphia has just one save in 10 games with a 5.11 team ERA.