Nationals beat Phillies 7-2; recap: 9/23/19
The Washington Nationals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Monday night at Nationals Park in the five-game series opener between the two NL East rivals. Their magic number is reduced to three and with a doubleheader sweep combined with a Chicago Cubs loss will punch their ticket to the postseason as soon as tomorrow night. On the other hand, the Phillies tragic number has dropped to one and they’ll be eliminated from playoff contention with just one more loss.
Things got started quickly in the first with Adam Eaton’s 15th home run of the season. Yan Gomes added one in the second for his 11th of the season and Trea Turner went yard the next inning for his 17th on the year.
The Nats added two more in the fifth with an RBI single from Anthony Rendon into right field that scored Turner. Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out to first with the bases loaded but it scored Eaton to make it 5-0.
The Phillies got one back in the sixth but the Nats added two runs in the eighth with two back-to-back walks by Rendon and Juan Soto with the bases loaded.
Bryce Harper went 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. The Nationals and Phillies will meet in a day/night doubleheader with the first game beginning at 1:05.
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
