Phillies Beat Nationals 7-3 Behind Eight Doubles and Explosive Offense
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
The Phillies offense got doubles happy, taking the final game of the series against the Nationals 7-3, showing that this team is now capable of putting up multiple runs without hitting a home run.
The Phils didn’t wait around to get the scoring started, with Luis Arraez doubling home Trea Turner, scoring the game’s first run in the first inning.
Alec Bohm then doubled, scoring Bryce Harper. Arraez was thrown out at the plate trying to score, but the damage was done with the Phils taking a 2-0 lead. Jacob Young got one of those runs back in the second, singling home Harry Ford. In the bottom of the second, Justin Crawford singled home J.T. Realmuto who hit another double, making the game 3-1. In the third, the Phillies picked up with the doubles, when Brandon Marsh doubled home Harper, who also doubled. Realmuto singled home Marsh, and Bryson Stott doubled to score Realmuto to make the game 6-1.
In the top of the fifth, Andrew Pinckney hit an opposite field home run for his first Major League hit. In the sixth, Keibert Riuz singled home Young, but then in the bottom of the inning Kyle Schwarber singled home Stott, making the game 7-3, which was the final score.
It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right
The Phillies had their gap-to-gap power on, hitting eight doubles in the game with seven doubles in just the first five innings alone. The Phillies came out swinging from the first inning, Arraez, the team’s new spark plug, hitting the first double of the game off of Mike Mikolas to get the scoring started. What is different with the Phils’ approach is that they have all started to be more selective of which pitches they’re swinging at and controlling the zone better, taking on the persona of their new teammate.
The way the Phils were hitting doubles, they were locked in and getting ahead and forcing Mikolas to come in with the fastball, making him much more predictable. With the Phils able to sit on a pitch and a location, they didn’t miss, and that made the Nationals pay. This was the fifth time this season that the Phils have had 15 or more hits, so the offense certainly appears to have solved their July issues.
Sanchez Dances In and Out of Danger
This game wasn’t one that Cristopher Sanchez will add to his Cy Young award resume, but it shows the grit that he has. Since the All-Star break, he has had a few starts where the bases have regularly gotten clogged. In this game, the traffic on the bases was limited until the fifth inning where he left the bases loaded, leaving six on base in the game, bringing him up to 245 runners stranded on the season. In this game, Sanchez was in control for the first three innings, but as the game went on, he was having issues controlling the sweeper, which is generally what he uses as a kill pitch, and when he’s spinning that pitch right, he has no problem getting outs.
He did have six strikeouts over five innings, most of which were in the first three innings. He didn’t throw badly by any means, but it wasn’t his best outing either. It’s something to build on in this stellar season for the Phils’ ace. This was his 15th win of the season, and he has won 17 of his last 18 decisions at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phils’ Bullpen Bounces Back After Bad Game
In Game three of the series, the Phillies used eight relievers in the game for the first time since 2021, so the squad desperately needed a good outing where they didn’t have to go deep in their bullpen. With Sanchez giving five innings, the bullpen would have to absorb some extra innings, but they ended up being quite crisp to avoid another extended outing.
Though there were four relievers, they all threw very well, with the only real hiccup being Orion Kerkering giving up a run in the sixth. Luckily, Jose Alvarado came in and dominated the seventh to truly rebound from one of his worst outings of the season. Jonathan Bowlan and Jhoan Duran came in to throw scoreless innings to close out the game, and taking three of four from the Nationals. The bullpen has certainly tightened up in the early games of August, but this bounce back is just what the Phils needed, not only in the standings but also for their confidence.
The Phils welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays for a weekend series, looking to win another series and continue climbing the standings on their way toward another playoff appearance.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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