The Phillies sweep the Nationals after winning the series against the Marlins, keeping them in a good spot for a wild card position. They needed this sweep not only for the wild card spot, but for their confidence. The west coast trip did not treat them well, and this homestand has been great at getting them back into it.
GAME ONE
Syndergaard was on the mound to start game one of the series, which brought a small level of concern because his recent starts weren’t stellar, but the Phillies won 5-3.
The offense did their job this game. Everybody had at least one hit and they went 3-7 with runners in scoring position. Realmuto (3-3) and Hoskins (1-4) both had clutch solo home runs to go with Sosa’s (2-3) triple and Bohm’s (1-4) double. They finished the day with five runs on 13 hits, two walks, and only four strikeouts. Overall, I can’t complain with how the team played offensively.
Syndergaard (6IP, 8H, 3ER, 0BB, 1HR) didn’t have the best night of his career, but only allowing three runs is standard for the fourth or fifth starter on the team, especially when it’s against the team with the worst run differential in MLB. Bellatti (1IP, 1K), Alvarado (1IP, 1K), Hand (.2IP, 2H), then Nelson (.1IP) relieved Syndergaard and didn’t allow another run. They ended the game with a total of 10 hits, three runs, four strikeouts, and one home run. Eight of the hits came from Syndergaard, but if they don’t score runs, caring about the hit count is useless.
Syndergaard got another win, offense looked decent, and Nelson got his first save. A good win overall after losing to Miami the day before.
GAME TWO
Ranger got the ball for game two of the series. He is another pitcher that hasn’t had the best starts lately that had the offense show up for him to get an 8-5 win.
Harper (1-4), Schwarber (2-3), Marsh (3-4), and Maton (1-3) all hit home runs to help the pitchers out. Marsh almost had two home runs, as his first attempt at one missed by inches and was a double. Yet another solid performance from the offense that finished with nine hits, three strikeouts, six walks, and four home runs.
Like Syndergaard the day before, Ranger had a solid performance for a fourth or fifth starter. He allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts, one walk, and one home run in 6.2 innings. Bellatti (.1IP), Coonrod (1IP), and Brogdon (1IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 2K) all relieved Suarez. The pitchers combined for 11 hits, five runs, two walks, and six strikeouts in this game. Like Syndergaard’s start, if they aren’t scoring a ton of runs off the hits, there’s no real point in caring about it.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win that kept us at our wild card spot.
GAME THREE
This game took seven hours to complete because of the three-hour rain delay. I give full respect to the people that stayed the entire time. At least they saw a 7-5 Phillies win with Nola on the mound.
Because of the rain delay, Nola only went two full innings and allowed two hits with two strikeouts. When the game resumed play, Sanchez (3IP, 7H, 4ER, 1BB, 2K) took the mound, then Nelson (1IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB), Alvarado (1IP, 1K, W), Dominguez (1IP, 1K), and Robertson (1IP, 3K, S) relieved him.The pitchers combined for 11 hits, five runs, two walks, and nine strikeouts. Seeing Seranthony back from injury gives me a big sigh of relief. It will minimize Robertson’s usage, which will help him be the second closer that we need him to be.
The offense didn’t look promising to begin the game. The rain delay must have done something for them because Rhys hit the game-tying three-run home run in the fifth inning and brought the team to life. With the game tied 5-5, Bohm stepped up big time and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. In totality, the offense scored seven runs on 10 hits with six walks and five strikeouts.
It wasn’t a comfortable game, but it was a game they won and a series they swept. They play the Marlins next in Miami. The matchup is expected to be Falter and Alcantara (again, why us?).
Go Phils.
