Bryson Stott sprinted home on a wild pitch to give the Philadelphia Phillies a chaotic 7-6 win over the visiting Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
Washington’s Nathaniel Lowe hit a go-ahead three-run homer against Orion Kerkering (3-1) with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth to put the Nationals ahead. However, the Phillies rallied for two runs against Kyle Finnegan (0-1) in the bottom half.
Alec Bohm led off the decisive frame with a single before Stott drew a walk. The runners were at second and third with one out when Johan Rojas delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Three pitches later, Finnegan bounced one in the dirt and by the time catcher Keibert Ruiz scampered to collect the ball, Stott was sliding over the plate.
Trea Turner, who was at bat when the winning run scored, finished 4-for-4 with two runs for Philadelphia. Leadoff counterpart CJ Abrams was among the hitting stars for Washington, going 4-for-5 in a losing effort.
Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, Washington loaded the bases with nobody out against Jose Alvarado. However, the burly left-hander recovered to strike out Josh Bell, Dylan Crews and Alex Call to escape the jam.
Philadelphia tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom half, as Turner delivered an RBI double and then later scored on Jose Ferrer’s wild pitch.
However, Washington came right back in the ninth. Abrams singled with one out and scored when James Wood scorched a line-drive RBI double to center that Rojas misplayed. The next batter, Amed Rosario, hit a grounder to shortstop, but Turner’s throw to first was too high.
Kerkering recovered to strike out Ruiz, but then Lowe smoked a 1-2 pitch into the right field seats to give the Nationals a 6-5 lead.
Kyle Schwarber staked the Phillies to a 2-0 lead with a first-inning home run against Mackenzie Gore, who gave up three runs in six innings. Rojas extended the lead to 3-0 with his first homer of the year — a leadoff blast in the third.
Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler allowed two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings, including Luis Garcia Jr.’s home run in the sixth. Wheeler walked one and struck out seven.
–Field Level Media
