Read a recap of the Philadelphia Phillies-Washington Nationals game on Aug. 31, 2021 at PhilliesNation.com.
Final Score: Phillies 12, Nationals 6
The two former National League MVPs in the Philadelphia Phillies lineup — Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen — helped lead them to their fifth consecutive win Tuesday evening in an offensive onslaught against the Washington Nationals.
After Harper successfully bunted his way on to lead off the top of the third inning, McCutchen cut into an early 3-0 deficit that the Phillies faced by hitting what SportsRadio 94 WIP‘s Dan Wilson called “the hanger of the year” 409 feet:
The 3-2 score was short-lived, however. To the surprise of some, Matt Moore returned to the mound for the top of the fourth inning. The 32-year-old lefty walked Logan Thomas to begin the inning, before Carter Kieboom hit his second home run in as many nights:
The Phillies had a chance to really cut into the Nationals 5-2 lead in the fifth inning against an erratic Patrick Corbin but failed to do so.
To be fair, a defensive miscue between Corbin and Kieboom allowed the Phillies to score a run that they probably didn’t deserve to when Jorge Bonifacio swung on 2-0 and hit a dibbler down the third base line that plated a run. Ultimately, the bases were left loaded when Ronald Torreyes grounded out to end the inning, leaving the Phillies still down 5-3.
Inexplicably, Nationals manager Dave Martinez allowed Corbin to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning and return to the mound in the top of the sixth, which proved to be disastrous.
Matt Vierling — called up Tuesday with Travis Jankowski going on the paternity list — started at first Tuesday and collected four hits. The second of those hits came to lead off the sixth inning, which set up Rafael Marchan to hit his second career major league home run:
After Nick Maton walked, Andres Machado came in to relieve Corbin, but was unable to stop the bleeding. Freddy Galvis singled into right field before Jean Segura was hit by a pitch, bringing Harper to the plate with the bases loaded and no one out. Harper was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, but not before driving in two runs:
McCutchen and Odúbel Herrera also drove in runs in what turned out to be a six-run inning. The Phillies entered the top of the sixth inning down 5-3. Nearly 25 minutes later, they had a 9-5 lead.
In the top of the ninth inning, Brad Miller added two more runs with a pinch-hit blast, his second home run in the series:
Before the inning was out, Jean Segura crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
The Phillies didn’t get a good start from Moore, but Bailey Falter, Sam Coonrod, José Alvarado and Héctor Neris all pitched at least one scoreless inning in relief. Enyel De Los Santos gave up one run in the ninth inning, but it ultimately didn’t matter as the Phillies secured their 68th win of the season.
In theory, the Phillies are slated to go for the sweep Wednesday evening in D.C., though there’s a very real chance that the effects of Hurricane Ida could push that game to Thursday, when both teams are scheduled to be off.
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