Trea Turner hit a bases-loaded single off the base of the wall in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Friday night. This win came after the Nationals had tied the game with two runs in the top of the ninth.
Turner had three singles and a double in the game, while Nick Castellanos and JT Realmuto also contributed runs for Philadelphia. The Phillies won their third straight game and recovered after losing 16 of 23 games following the All-Star break.
With a 41-22 record at home, the Phillies started the game with a seven-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.
“It feels good,” Turner said.
The Phillies took advantage of errors by Washington in the ninth inning. Brandon Marsh, who came in as a defensive replacement, led off with a single to the wall in right field and advanced to second base when right fielder Alex Call’s throw went past the base.
Pinch-hitter Cal Stevenson then attempted a bunt to move Marsh to third base, but neither pitcher Kyle Finnegan (3-6) nor third baseman José Tena was able to field it.
The Nationals intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber, loading the bases with no outs. Turner then hit a drive to the wall in left field to end the game.
“Made too many mistakes in that inning,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “When you play a good team like this, the mistakes are going to get you.”
Turner has been hitting well since taking a day off on Wednesday, with seven hits in 10 at-bats, including two doubles.
“He’s using the field, he’s staying on pitches and he’s not chasing,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I think he just relaxed a little bit. You can do some extra hitting in the cage and work on some mechanical things and just clear your head (on the off day).”
The Nationals tied the game with two runs in the ninth inning against Carlos Estévez (2-4), who blew his fourth save and his first with the Phillies since being acquired from the Angels on July 27. Luis García Jr. and Juan Yepez started with singles, placing runners on first and second.
García scored on Tena’s single, which advanced pinch-runner Nasim Nuñez to third base. Nuñez scored on Jacob Young’s groundout to second base, tying the game before Estévez struck out Alex Call and CJ Abrams to prevent any more runs.
