Derek Hill’s Pinch-Hit Home Run Secures Second-Straight Comeback Win for Phillies Over Nationals

The Phillies entered their Wednesday night matchup against the Washington Nationals on the heels of a historical comeback the night before. In Tuesday’s matchup, the Phillies scored 8 runs with 2 outs in the 9th inning to take a 14-8 lead. It was the first time in franchise history that the Phillies scored 8+ runs with 2 outs in the 9th, and they did so with Kyle Schwarber out of the lineup with lower back tightness.

The phenomenal end to Tuesday night trickled into Wednesday, and left some deja vu. Derek Hill‘s thrilling pinch-hit two-run home run in the top of the ninth secured the second straight come-from-behind victory for the Phillies in the nation’s capital, 5-4.

Miles Mikolas was expected to start for the Natonals; however, it was announced this afternoon that lefty Carson Palmquist, who has not been a stellar pitcher in his short MLB career, would open the ballgame. Schwarber would not be in the lineup for the second straight night, mainly out of precaution rather than necessity.

The Phillies sent Aaron Nola to the mound. The issue for Nola heading into the game continues to be high pitch counts early in the game, as well as the all too familiar home run. The home run issue reared its ugly head early as Nola allowed solo blasts in the 1st and 2nd innings to Luis Garcia Jr. and Jorbit Vivas, respectively. Those were the only two blemishes to Nola’s pitching line on the night.

He worked through a dangerous Nats lineup very successfully throughout the night. He tossed 5 strikeouts, 4 of which were off the knuckle-curve. The knuckle-curve was working phenomenally for Nola, even removing the 4 Ks from it; he was placing it well and causing swings and misses. The success of the knuckle-curve and solid work limiting traffic on the base paths led to Nola having a solid case of coming back out in the 6th inning to continue his work. Don Mattingly decided against it, instead opting for a returning Kyle Backhus.

Backhus began the 6th inning, making his first appearance for the Phillies since April 25 against the Atlanta Braves. Backhus was able to start the inning with a flyout from CJ Abrams, allowed a single before causing a force out to set up a 2-out at bat with the go-ahead run coming to the plate.

The Nationals decided to bring in former Phillies prospect Curtis Mead to pinch hit, a righty to face the lefty Backhus. Mattingly responded by taking out Backus and bringing in the righty Jonathan Bowlan. While Bowlan had been very solid for the Phillies this season, Wednesday was not one of those nights as he quickly gave up a go-ahead 2-run homer to Mead on the first pitch he threw, putting the Nationals on top 4-3.

What seemed a game where the story was heading towards the bullpen blowing the lead to lose the game, the Cardiac Kids switched the tale.

The offense as a whole during the night was not nearly as successful as the 9th inning on Tuesday; it certainly was not nonexistent. Beginning in a hole early due to the homers given up by Nola, they mounted a comeback early as Bryson Stott continued his hot streak by scoring Brandon Marsh with a double and move Alec Bohm over to third base before J.T. Realmuto tied the game with a sacrifice fly and rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr. knocked a 2-out single into center that scored Stott and give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

The offense wasn’t terrible throughout the night. They had 7 hits through the first 8 innings; however, they struggled to put runs across outside that third inning. It felt as if the offense was going to have a stereotypical cold night outside one inning after Bowlan gave up the lead in the 6th, but the Phillies like being different.

In the top half of the 9th, the Nationals got two quick outs, leading to Schwarber coming in to pinch hit. Schwarber was out of the starting lineup for the second straight night, but Mattingly made it clear that he would be available. That availability was taken advantage of here, and Schwarber worked a long at-bat that led to a walk. Garrett Stubbs pinch ran for Schwarber, left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady came in to face Justin Crawford, right-handed hitter Derek Hill came to hit.

Hill was traded for after Adolis Garcia went down with his season-ending injury to open up a platoon opportunity and add to the depth of the outfield. Hill decided to make his mark as a Phillie, battling difficult pitches before connecting with a poorly located fastball that went into the right field bleachers to put the Phillies back on top.

The Nationals have been home to one of the worst bullpens in the league, made up by adding onto their already league-leading blown save count, now holding 23 blown saves. It’s a depressing pill to swallow when your team agonizingly blows games. And Philadelphia remembers when they had a bullpen as bad as D.C’s, but it’s a lot sweeter now being on the opposite end of those saves and having an elite closer in Jhoan Duran, who came in and swiftly closed out the bottom of the 9th to end the ballgame with a 5-4 comeback.

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