PHILADELPHIA — Bryson Stott scored on a wild pitch with two outs to cap an adventurous ninth inning in the Phillies’ 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Johan Rojas made up for a defensive miscue in the top of the frame with a game-tying sacrifice fly and homered for the Phillies, who have won three in a row. Kyle Schwarber also went deep for Philadelphia, and Trea Turner contributed four hits and an RBI.
Nathaniel Lowe hit a go-ahead home run for the Nationals with two strikes and two outs in the ninth. Luis Garcia Jr. also homered, and CJ Abrams had four hits and was a homer shy of the cycle for Washington.
Orion Kerkering (3-1) picked up the win despite failing to lock down the save in the ninth.
After Philadelphia padded its lead to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the eighth, the hosts were in comfortable shape entering the ninth. But Rojas misplayed James Wood’s one-out liner to center, allowing it to sail over his head, and Abrams scored. Turner followed with a throwing error to put a pair of runners on with one out. Kerkering fanned Keibert Ruiz for the second out and had Lowe in a 1-2 hole before he golfed an 88-mph sweeper into the right-field stands to put Washington in front 6-5.
Alec Bohm led off the bottom half with a single off Kyle Finnegan (0-1), and Stott followed with a walk. Bohm went to third on Max Kepler’s flyout, and Stott reached second on a stolen base. Washington nearly ended the game with a double play, but Ruiz couldn’t catch right fielder Dylan Crews’ bouncing throw that beat Bohm to the plate. Stott moved to third on the play and tallied the winning run when Ruiz couldn’t keep Finnegan’s 2-0 sinker in the dirt from bouncing toward the Phillies’ cheering dugout.
Key Moment
Washington loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth on a pair of singles and shortstop Turner’s miscue when he failed to step on second base for a force out. But José Alvarado struck out Josh Bell, Dylan Creek and Alex Call – all swinging – in order to end the threat and keep the Phils ahead 3-2.
Key Stat
43 – The number of wins Philadelphia has in the last 57 games against the Nationals since 2021.
Up Next
Washington RHP Jake Irvin (2-0, 3.19) opposes Phillies LHP Cristopher Sánchez (2-1, 3.42) in the second contest of the three-game set on Wednesday night.
