PHILADELPHIA — The Nationals’ 11-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon began like any other game Washington has played of late — not much offense, solid work by the starting pitcher and little margin for error — but unraveled into something much worse.
“It’s tough. I feel like we’ve played a ton of games on the road, and they’ve all been really close,” outfielder Jesse Winker said. “We ran into [the Boston Red Sox], who have the [second-best] ERA in baseball right now. And then we ran into [the Chicago White Sox], who were playing really well, and they pitched lights out. And then you come to Philly, and they have the best record in baseball. It was nine really good baseball games. You hang your hat on that, you get back home tomorrow, get some home cooking and give it hell.”
Early on, Sunday’s matchup seemed headed down that familiar narrow path. It got away from the Nationals (20-25) in the fifth inning as the Phillies (34-14) grabbed control.
Right-hander Trevor Williams was steady, as he has been all season, but his season-high 97th pitch was a misplaced sweeper that handed Kyle Schwarber a one-out walk. The Nationals turned to Jacob Barnes, who conceded a walk and a single before a sacrifice fly by Alec Bohm tied the score at 3. Left-hander Robert Garcia entered with two outs. The Nationals appeared ready to exit the inning before Winker — who had made two extra-base-saving catches earlier and hit a solo homer to put them ahead in the top of the inning — misplayed a tailing foul ball.
Instead of a catch and the third out, the inning pressed on. It was ultimately a three-run swing: Kody Clemens doubled to score two, and Nick Castellanos singled to make it 6-3. Winker was otherwise a bright spot. Asked after the game which moment he would remember, he said the foul ball.
“He got a hit immediately right after, and obviously that’s the worst feeling as a player, when you have a play to make and you don’t make it and then they capitalize on it,” he said. “But it’s part of the game. Unfortunately it happened, and I’ll just be ready for the next opportunity.”
The Phillies scored two runs off Jordan Weems in the sixth on Bryce Harper’s double and three in the eighth when Tanner Rainey, pitching for the first time since May 4, allowed a three-run shot to Bohm.
“It’s a tremendous lineup. We’re familiar with them and what they can do, and they did a great job today making me work,” Williams said. “I felt good today. There wasn’t really one [pitch] today I thought I would want back, and [Manager Dave Martinez] let me go out there and work through some stuff. I just didn’t make the most of that opportunity, and it put the pressure on our bullpen to hold it.”
The Nationals’ bats again were quiet for most of the afternoon, accentuating a point Martinez made just a few hours earlier — that their inability to get the opponent’s starting pitcher out of the game quickly hurts them. Washington saw just seven pitches from Aaron Nola in the first inning and managed no hits in the first three. He got through seven innings, giving the Nationals little opportunity to beat up on the lone below-average part of the Phillies’ roster: their bullpen.
The offense had found a little life in the fourth inning when Eddie Rosario (1.152 OPS in May) broke the seal — as well as the Nationals’ 54-inning homerless streak — with a two-run shot that tucked inside the right field pole and tied the score at 2. But Winker’s solo shot in the fifth was the Nationals’ only hit until a two-run ninth.
“Towards the end there, we started swinging the bats a little better,” Martinez said. “We were getting the ball in the zone. Once again, we’ve got to stop chasing. When we do that, we hit the ball well.”
Note: Outfielder Lane Thomas’s return from a sprained medial collateral ligament is getting closer; he is expected to begin a rehab assignment this week. He has been hitting quite a bit, and Martinez said the team hopes his rehab assignment doesn’t take long. The Nationals will be eying his base running closely because that is how he was hurt April 23. Before Sunday’s game, he heard cheers from the dugout when he ran from first to third base and slid in.
