Stone Garrett hit a home run in his first major league appearance in over a year, contributing three hits and three RBIs to help the Washington Nationals end a four-game losing streak with a 9-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Luis García Jr., Juan Yepez, and Jacob Young each had three hits, while Keibert Ruiz drove in three runs for Washington. This win marked only the third time the Nationals defeated the Phillies in 11 matchups this season and was the most runs they’ve scored in a game since August 13 against Baltimore.
Trevor Williams (6-1) pitched five shutout innings, striking out five while allowing three hits and two walks, which lowered his ERA to 2.03 over 13 starts.
Ranger Suárez (12-8) wrapped up his regular season by giving up six runs in just two innings for Philadelphia, which has already secured the NL East title and a playoff bye.
“He wasn’t the only one who was rough tonight,” said Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson. “It wasn’t vintage Phillie baseball, that’s for sure.”
The Phillies fell two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top seed in the National League, as the Dodgers defeated Colorado 11-4 on Friday night.
Garrett, who is 28 years old, hadn’t played in the majors since breaking his left leg while attempting to catch a home run from the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu on August 23, 2023.
He was called up from Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday and didn’t play in three games against Kansas City before being the designated hitter against left-handed Suárez.
With Washington already leading 1-0 thanks to Yepez’s RBI single, Garrett hit a 72 mph curveball 431 feet into the left-field seats, bringing in Yepez. Garrett celebrated joyfully as he ran toward first base.
“It was all released before I touched first base,” Garrett said. “I don’t even know the word to describe it, but rounding the bases, I blacked out. You’re rehabbing, trying to get back to where I was before I got injured, just being able to compete at the level I knew I could compete at. It was pent-up emotions.”
