Philly holds off Nats as bullpen nails down win
It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Phillies managed to squeak past the Washington Nationals, 5-3, on 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.
Falter does enough
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.
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.