James Wood homered and tripled and scored two runs and Joey Gallo hit a three-run homer to highlight a four-run eighth inning to lead the host Washington Nationals to a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon.
Keibert Ruiz also had two hits and an RBI and Dylan Crews went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored for Washington (71-90) which clinched the series victory with its second straight win. Jose A. Ferrer (1-0) picked up the win in relief.
Trea Turner homered and Nick Castellanos tripled and scored a run for Philadelphia (94-67). Jeff Hoffman (3-3) suffered the loss allowing four runs on four hits in one inning. The loss meant the National League East champion Phillies, who already had earned a bye into the National League Division Series, will finish as the No. 2 seed in the NL behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (96-64) in the battle for home field advantage.
Washington took a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning on Wood’s ninth homer, a 385-foot opposite-field line drive to left that drove in Luis Garcia Jr., who had singled.
Philadelphia tied it, 2-2, in the eighth against reliever Jose A. Ferrer when pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa was hit by a pitch and scored on Turner’s 21st home run into the left field bullpen.
The Nationals regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Wood led off with a triple into the right field corner and scored on a bloop single to center by Ruiz. Two outs later, Crews singled and Gallo followed with a towering three-run home run just into the right field bullpen.
The Phillies cut it to 6-3 in the ninth when Castellanos led off with a triple to center and scored on a groundout by Alec Bohm but Washington reliever Kyle Finnegan rebounded to strike out J.T. Realmuto and get Bryson Stott to ground out to end the game.
Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler allowed two runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out 11, the fourth time this season that he struck out 10 or more batters in a game.
It marked Wheeler’s 11th consecutive start that he pitched six-plus innings and allowed two runs or less which according to statistician Sarah Langs of MLB Network, makes him the first Phillies pitchers to accomplish the feat since 1893 when the mound was moved to its current distance.
Washington starter MacKenzie Gore allowed just three singles over six shutout innings. He walked one and struck out nine and finished the season allowing just one earned run over 19 innings in his final three starts with six walks and 23 strikeouts.
–Field Level Media