Pitching, power knock off Nationals
PHILADELPHIA » Aaron Nola tossed twohit ball over eight innings, Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run homer and Alec Bohm also went deep to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Washington Nationals 6-0 on Tuesday night.
Nola (4-2) threw 113 pitches in his latest dominant outing before he yielded to Hector Neris for the ninth. Nola has yet to pitch a complete game in 134 career starts dating to his debut in 2015. He struck out nine and allowed two or fewer runs for the fifth time this season.
The Phillies are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011 and are now in the stretch when their hopes traditionally begin to fade. The Phillies went a combined 93-123 in September from 2012-19 and their .431 winning percentage during the month ranked 27th out of 30 major league teams.
Perhaps, in this far-out season where even a .500 record makes a playoff push realistic, the Phillies could break the drought.
Bohm’s solo shot to left field for his second homer of the season and J.T. Realmuto’s RBI single off Washington starter Patrick Corbin (2-3) gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the fifth.
The Phillies caught a pair of breaks in the sixth to bust the game open. Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia bobbled a hard-hit grounder that cost them a 4-6-3 double play. Bohm followed with a
shot to left-center that sent Didi Gregorius scurrying around third — and perhaps misreading the stop sign for Jay
Bruce charging behind — stumbling on the grass. Gregorius recovered and slid head-first into home for a 3-0 lead.
McCutchen, who shook off a slow start, dropped the bat on a three-run shot off Kyle Finnegan to make it 6-0.
The Phillies have won 11 of 17 games to move a game over .500 (16-15) and
remain in an NL playoff spot.
ALLEN HONOR
The Phillies will retire Dick Allen’s No. 15 in a ceremony before Thursday’s game. Allen will also be honored by the Phillies next season at Citizens Bank Park when fans can be in attendance.