WASHINGTON (AP) — Trea Turner hit two home runs in an eight-run eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies went deep five times on Saturday, rallying for a 12-3 win over the Washington Nationals.
Nick Castellanos, Jake Cave and Bryson Stott also homered for Philadelphia, which began the day two games ahead of San Francisco in the race for the top wild-card spot in the National League. The Phillies had lost four of five.
Riley Adams drove in two runs for Washington, which had won six of its last seven overall and 15 of 18 at home since July 8.
Turner, a former member of the Nationals, led off the eighth inning by sending Cory Abbott’s 93-mph fastball into the seats in left. Abbott (1-2), who was pitching for the first time since Aug. 11, allowed seven more runs, including a three-run homer by Stott that preceded Turner' second home run in the inning.
Cave led off the ninth with a home run to right off infielder Ildemaro Vargas, who pitched for the second time this season.
The Phillies tied it at 3 on Castellanos’ three-run homer off Andrés Machado in the seventh.
Seranthony Domínguez (3-3) pitched a scoreless seventh and earned the win. He allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings while striking out five.
Philadelphia designated hitter Bryce Harper was booed prior to each of his plate appearances, a ritual that has been customary since he signed with the Phillies in 2019 after spending the first seven seasons of his career in Washington. Harper was 1 for 2, walked twice and was twice hit by a pitch.
Washington starter Jake Irvin threw six shutout innings and struck out seven. It appeared he would not make it out of the sixth when the Phillies loaded the bases with three singles and manager Dave Martinez came to the mound. But Martinez didn’t make a pitching change and Irvin struck out Cave on three pitches to escape the jam.
The Nationals scored twice in the fourth against Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez. Joey Meneses had an RBI single and Adams added a run-scoring double to left that caromed off the wall in foul territory and allowed another run to score.
Meneses, who reached on Turner’s throwing error in the sixth, scored on Adams’ two-out single to left.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Placed LHP Ranger Suárez (right hamstring strain) on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to Wednesday) and recalled RHP Andrew Bellatti from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. … Manager Rob Thomson said OF Brandon Marsh (left knee) will rejoin the team from a rehabilitation assignment Sunday. … Thomson said he anticipates LHP José Alvarado (elbow) will be activated Monday. … RHP Taijuan Walker threw a 25-pitch bullpen session and is on track to start Tuesday against San Francisco.
Nationals: RHP Tanner Rainey (Tommy John surgery) allowed two runs while recording two outs in a rehabilitation appearance Friday for Class A Fredericksburg.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Zack Wheeler (9-5, 3.63 ERA), who is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break, starts the series finale in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Nationals: RHP Trevor Williams (5-7, 5.20) is 0-2 with an 11.08 ERA and seven home runs allowed in 13 innings over his last three starts.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
