After losing two out of three with the Chicago White Sox, the Washington Nationals’ three-series road trip ended this weekend against the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately, the Nats were swept in three games with a 4-2 loss on Friday, a 4-3 10-inning defeat on Saturday, and an 11-5 blowout loss on Sunday, as the team’s struggles continue.
Since May 11th, Washington has lost seven of their last eight, dropping their record to 20-25 and being tied for third place with the New York Mets in the division. The team has also lost five straight games and finished the road trip 2-7. Hopefully once James Wood and Brady House get called up, things will start to change in D.C.
In Friday’s loss, the Nationals broke their scoreless slump with two runs, courtesy of Keibert Ruiz and Eddie Rosario both hitting RBI doubles. However, the Phillies’ deep roster proved too much in this game and the series in general.
Saturday’s game turned out to be a thriller, with Washington’s batting looking like it finally returned to form as the team finished the contest with 11 hits. C.J. Abrams had another stellar performance as he went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI and a run, leading the Nats with 46 hits on the season.
MacKenzie Gore also had a strong performance on the mound, going 6.1 innings with three strikeouts on 93 pitches.
Joey Meneses put the Nationals on the board first with an RBI single at the beginning of the contest, while Abrams and Jesse Winker also had a knock each to put runs on the board. Winker’s RBI single gave Washington a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, hoping to give the ballclub its first win since this past Tuesday.
However, in another save attempt, Kyle Finnegan gave up a game-tying homer from Kody Clemens of the Phillies with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Finnegan hadn’t allowed an earned run since March 31st in Cincinnati.
Philadelphia went on to seal it in the bottom of the 10th when ex-National Bryce Harper launched a walk-off sacrifice fly that sent home Johan Rojas, really rubbing salt in the wound.
In Sunday’s game, Washington trailed 2-0 but then overcame the deficit with Rosario and Jesse Winker launching homers to make it 3-2. Before Winker’s home run, Rosario’s two-run bomb in the fourth inning was the fifth of the team’s six home runs in the past two weeks.
In the bottom of the fourth, Winker also made a remarkable play in left field where he crashed into the wall to make a leaping catch, but banged his right knee in the process. Regardless, he managed to stay in the game.
Unfortunately, the Phillies went on to score nine unanswered runs over the course of four innings, as Trevor Williams was pulled after 4.1 innings pitched and the bullpen just didn’t have a single answer the rest of the way.
The Nationals did attempt a late rally in the top of the ninth when Ruiz and Jacob Young each got RBI hits, but it was too little, too late.
Next up, Washington returns home for the first time since May 8th for an interleague series with the Minnesota Twins on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Nationals Park.
