On the night that their hottest pitcher hit the injured list, the overall fatigue of the Philadelphia Phillies (83-68) pitching staff shone through in a 6-3 defeat to the Washington Nationals (71-81).
The Phillies got three runners aboard in the first inning with a pair of walks by Kyle Schwarber and Luis Arraez and an RBI single by Alec Bohm which opened the scoring.
The Nats sprang back to take the lead in the bottom of the inning with a pair
of doubles by Brady House and Yohandy Morales and a single by Jorbit Vivas.
Arraez tied the game in the third inning with an RBI double to score Trea Turner.
Kyle Schwarber hit a go-ahead lead-off home run in the top of the sixth but the Phillies would again relinquish the lead in the bottom of the inning on a solo shot by Andres Chaparro.
Cristopher Sanchez’s ERA has increased by nearly half a point since the beginning of the month and those struggles continued tonight as he allowed eight hits for the tenth time this season, but it was his “relief” that surrendered the killing blow.
Daylen Lile blew the game open in the seventh inning with a pinch-hit three-run home run off of Jonathan Bowlan, two runs of which were inherited from Sanchez.
It was the 5th straight appearance in which Bowlan has allowed a run and the second in a row Sanchez has allowed five plus.
The ambitions of catching the Braves for the division are fading into the rearview as the Phillies are now 4-8 in their last 12 and hanging on to a wild card spot for dear life.
Zack Wheeler will attempt to outduel Washington ace, Cade Cavalli, tomorrow night in the second half of the short series.
