Lane Thomas hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Washington Nationals recovered after blowing a six-run lead to defeat the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 8-7 on Friday night.
Jeimer Candelario drove in three runs for the Nationals, who began a six-game homestand following a 3-3 road trip. Washington’s Luis Garcia homered.
The Phillies lost their fifth game in a row despite Nick Castellanos smacking two home runs and hitting a two-run single to finish with five RBIs. He also hit a one-out double in the ninth, but pinch runner Dalton Guthrie was stranded at second when the game ended.
In the bottom of the eighth, Alex Call drew a two-out walk, stole second and came home on Thomas’ hit.
Nationals starter Josiah Gray gave up one run through five innings, then was charged for three more runs in the sixth. He went 5 1/3 innings. Kyle Finnegan (3-2) was the winning pitcher after holding Philadelphia scoreless over the final 1 2/3 innings.
Connor Brogdon (2-1) took the loss.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was tagged for seven runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. He was gone after giving up Garcia’s solo home run in the fourth.
It was a rough stint for Wheeler, who blanked the Atlanta Braves for eight innings in his previous outing.
The Nationals broke out to a 2-0 first-inning lead. Candelario drove in the first run with a double, and he later scored on Corey Dickerson’s sacrifice fly.
In the second, Washington’s CJ Abrams roped a one-out double and scored on Call’s single. Later in the frame, Candelario delivered a two-run double, and Joey Meneses’ single made it 6-0.
Castellanos went deep in the fourth inning, a solo blast, and the sixth inning, a two-run shot. He has seven homers on the year, but he hadn’t hit one since May 9.
Garcia belted his fifth homer in the bottom of the fourth.
The Phillies kept chipping away. Castellanos’ two-run single in the seventh made it 7-6, and Philadelphia tied the score with two outs in the eighth on an error by Abrams at shortstop.
Candelario, Garcia, Call and Meneses all finished with two hits for Washington.
Castellanos finished 4-for-5, and Kyle Schwarber, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh each had two hits for the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
