The Philadelphia Phillies, who own the majors’ best record, go for a three-game sweep when they host the Washington Nationals on Sunday.
Philadelphia won for the fifth time in six games on Sunday by rallying for a dramatic 4-3 10-inning victory.
Aaron Nola (5-2, 3.10 ERA) goes for the Phillies on Sunday, opposing fellow right-hander Trevor Williams (4-0, 1.94).
Nola is coming off his fourth career shutout, a 4-0 win against the Mets on Tuesday. He allowed four hits and did not walk a batter while striking out eight. Nola threw 109 pitches and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning.
“The Mets hit a couple of balls hard, but right at the guys,” he said. “We made some really good plays. But I felt the fastball command, the cutter command and the curveball felt sharp today.”
Nola has made 30 starts against the Nationals, going 8-8 with a 3.75 ERA. He beat Washington on April 5, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings while giving up two hits.
Williams, in the second year of a two-year contract, is rolling as well. The 32-year-old has given up two earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight starts. Last time out he gave up three runs (one earned) in five innings of a no-decision against the White Sox on Tuesday.
“The biggest thing is he’s keeping us in ballgames,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “He’s pounding the strike zone. He’s doing everything we’ve asked him to do.”
Williams is 2-4 with a 5.20 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) versus the Phillies.
On Saturday, the Phillies tied it on Kody Clemens’ homer in the ninth before walking off the Nationals on Bryce Harper’s sacrifice fly.
“It doesn’t matter any position that we’re in, how far down we are, how much we’re up or anything like that, we play 27 outs for a reason,” Harper said. “Whenever you’re in moments like this or have opportunities like this, it just builds your team to be that much better later in the year in the postseason because you’ve been in those moments, you’ve had those opportunities throughout the year and you kind of capitalize on it the farther you go as a team.”
Bryson Stott also homered for the Phillies, who have won 13 straight series since losing their first two of the season.
The Nationals entered Saturday with an 18-1 mark when leading after eight innings, much of that due to the stellar work of closer Kyle Finnegan. After going 16 straight appearances without allowing an earned run, Finnegan (1-3) allowed Clemens’ game-tying homer with two outs in the ninth and surrendered the winning run in the 10th.
“We played a great game. We deserved to win. It’s my job to go in there and continue what we had already accomplished and get three outs,” Finnegan said. “It hurts. I’m motivated to get back out there as soon as possible.”
The Nationals managed three runs after totaling two in their previous three games but went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
–Field Level Media
