After two opening series where they only won one game, the Nationals took the final game of a three-game homestand against the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 3-2. Washington previously fell to Philly 4-0 on Friday, and 5-2 on Saturday.
Not many prognosticators predicted the Nats to be one of the stronger teams this season, and so far the team is proving them right, as they currently sit at 3-6 to start the season and are tied with the New York Mets for third place in the NL East division, only better than the Miami Marlins at 1-9.
In Washington’s victory on Sunday afternoon, the game was tied at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Riley Adams broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to left that sent home Lane Thomas for the go-ahead run that turned out to be the difference. Earlier in the contest, the Nats trailed 1-0 until Luis Garcia Jr. hit an RBI single that drove in Ildemaro Vargas to tie it at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Then, Joey Meneses hit an RBI single of his own to give Washington a 2-1 lead in the third.
The usually dependable Meneses had been off to a rocky start to the season batting only .250 with just one RBI, but on Sunday he went 2-for-3 at the plate with that knock in the third inning. Thomas also had a solid performance going 2-for-3 with two runs, while Vargas also finished with two hits in the contest.
Pitching-wise, MacKenzie Gore got the start on the mound for the Nationals and had a strong performance into the sixth inning, striking out six Phillies batters and sealing his first win of the season. Gore also got help from the bullpen, as relievers Jordan Weems and Hunter Harvey were able to prevent any more runs, while Kyle Finnegan recorded his third save of the year.
The one Philadelphia batter Gore struggled against was Edmundo Soto, who went 2-for-2 with a homer and two RBIs. Soto’s home run came on a Gore slider that went over the wall in left-center field to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth.
Meanwhile, the main highlight for Washington in their 5-2 loss to the Phillies on Saturday was Joey Gallo hitting a two-run homer to right center that cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the third. That was Gallo’s second home run of the season and the 200th of his career. Thomas also had two hits in that game.
Jake Irvin got the start on the bump and pitched six full innings with five strikeouts on 93 pitches. However, his four earned runs allowed were too much for the Nats and contributed to the loss.
In Washington’s 4-0 loss on Friday night, the team finished with only two hits, which came from Garcia and C.J. Abrams. A Patrick Corbin start didn’t really help much either.
The Nationals now head off to the Bay Area for a three-game road series with the San Francisco Giants, followed by an Interleague road series with the Oakland Athletics.
