Phillies hold off Nationals, 5-3, as bullpen nails down win

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Phillies managed to squeak past the Washington Nationals, 5-3, Thursday afternoon to take their second straight series win before they head on a nine-game road trip to St. Louis, Toronto, and Miami. The Phillies are now 44-39 and, if the Cardinals lose on Thursday night, they could have a one-game lead over St. Louis in the wild-card standings.

Bailey Falter didn’t have a stellar outing, but he did just enough to keep a win within reach for his team. Falter went four innings and allowed six hits, two earned runs, one walk, and struck out six. He ran into trouble early — allowing two singles, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a run in the first inning, and three hits and a run in the second inning — but settled in for the third and fourth innings.

From there, the bullpen continued to lock it down the way it has been of late. Nick Nelson came in for Falter and gave the Phillies two innings of scoreless ball. José Alvarado came in after him and struck out the side against the heart of the Nationals order — Juan Soto, Josh Bell, and Nelson Cruz. Alvarado looked particularly sharp; he was hitting 97 mph with his cutter and 101 mph with his sinker, and for the most part was throwing both of them for strikes.

“He’s done a nice job for a while now,” interim manager Rob Thomson said of Alvarado. “When he’s throwing strikes, he’s tough to hit. A 95-mph cutter is tough. And then he’s got the four-seam at 100 mph. So, he’s got good stuff and when he’s throwing the ball over the plate, he’s tough to hit.”

The Phillies announced after the game, however, that Falter had been sent back down to triple A.

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Brad Hand allowed an RBI double by Ehire Adrianza in the top of the eighth inning to give the Nationals another run, but that was about as interesting as things got in the later innings. Seranthony Domínguez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.

The Nationals rank second to last in the majors in team ERA at 5.13. Their bullpen ranks fifth-worst in baseball with a 4.52 ERA. Their starter against the Phillies, Joan Adon, entered the game with a 6.97 ERA. Given that caliber of pitching, the Phillies offense could have done more on Thursday, when it finished with eight hits.

The Phillies struck out 16 times on Wednesday, which was more forgivable because they were facing Josiah Gray, who has a 2.66 ERA with 48 strikeouts over his last seven starts. Thursday was less forgivable. The Phillies racked up 10 more strikeouts. With runners on second and third and no outs in the first inning, they had a chance to get on the board early. Instead, the heart of their order was retired 1-2-3 against Adon in the next three at-bats.

The Phillies were able to get enough runs on the board to squeeze out a win. Didi Gregorius fell just short of hitting his first home run of the season, smacking a triple in the bottom of the third that traveled 352 feet. Soto, the right fielder, misplayed the ball and it hit the wall, allowing Gregorius to reach third base safely as Darick Hall scored.

Hall drove in two runs while J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber plated one apiece. But it was not the kind of performance we’re accustomed to seeing when the offense is really clicking.

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Hall, a 26-year-old rookie who was picked in the 14th round of the draft in 2016, made his big-league debut on June 29. Since then, he has hit four home runs in eight games, including a 356-foot solo shot to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday.

“He’s really swung the bat well,” Thomson said. “That home run today was really big. It gave us a little separation. The double he hit was really big. Darick’s been kind of a spark for us.”

Schwarber isn’t surprised by Hall’s success. He said he remembered watching Hall’s first few at-bats and came away impressed. Hall didn’t record any hits in his first two games, but he looked comfortable at the plate.

“I just liked the way he was seeing pitches, even pitches that he was just fouling off,” Schwarber said in late June. “He took his swing. He wasn’t pressing. It looked fluid. It’s easy for a young guy, especially when it’s their first opportunity, to press and try to get their first hit. And he didn’t do that. That’s a big thing.”