Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
First it was a grand slam. Then it was a cycle. On Friday it was a walk off single.
Earlier this week, the Phillies were finding ways to lose games. Now they are finding ways to win them.
At the center of it all on Friday was Trea Turner. He had the walk off hit, but more importantly, it was the fourth of the game, as the Phillies defeated the Washington Nationals 3-2 in front of another sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park.
Turner, who was benched for a game on Wednesday and spent the entire day watching old videos of himself hitting to try and figure out what was wrong with his swing all of a sudden, has come back with a vengeance.
After he went through a 16-game stretch where he was a woeful 10-for-70 (.143), Turner has nearly matched that output in the last two games.
He’s had seven hits in the last two games, and the Phillies needed every one of them on Friday as they struggled to put up the kind of offense they had the previous two nights where they had combined to score 22 runs.
“I feel like I’m doing everything right,” Turner told reporters after the game.
Turner’s infield single in the fourth inning became the first run of the game as he scored on a single by Nick Castellanos. The only other run the Phillies scored before the ninth was a result of Castellanos stealing second and scoring on a single by J.T. Realmuto.
Aaron Nola had pitched well enough for those two runs to hold up. He pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings before turning the game over to the bullpen. It was a much better start for Nola, who had struggled each of his last two times out.
Nola handed it off to the bullpen and while Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman did their jobs, Carlos Estevez did not.
Having only allowed one earned run since May 21st, Estevez doubled that in the span of four hitters on Friday.
He gave up three straight singles in the ninth inning allowing the first run to score. The second scored on an RBI ground out. Estevez was able to strike out the last two batters but had blown the save.
It was games like this the Phillies were finding ways to cough up on their last road trip. But Turner made sure that wouldn’t be the case against the Nationals.
But he needed a little help from his friends first.
Brandon Marsh, who started the game on the bench for the second straight game, entered in the top of the ninth as a defensive replacement for Weston Wilson. After the lead dissipated, the struggling Marsh had to lead off the bottom of the ninth and did so with a single to rightfield off Washington closer Kyle Finnegan.
Marsh was able to make it second base on an errant throw from Nationals right fielder Alex Call.
Manager Rob Thomson then called on Cal Stevenson to pinch hit for Johan Rojas, and Stevenson laid down such a good bunt that he beat it out for a single. Klye Schwarber worked a walk to load the bases, setting the stage for Turner, who ripped his fourth hit of the game into left field to give the Phillies their third straight win.
“I think he just relaxed a little bit,” Thomson said of Turner. “You don’t have to think about anything. You do some extra hitting in the cage; you work on some mechanical things. You just kind of clear your head.”
With the win, the Phillies once again stretched their lead in the N.L. East to eight games over second place Atlanta and, more importantly, stayed a half game in front of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the National League.
ON THE MEND
OF Austin Hayes ran the bases Friday at 80 percent, assessing his hamstring injury that has had him on the I.L. since Aug. 8th. He will take swings during a simulated game Saturday pitched by LHP Ranger Suarez, who is also working his way back from the I.L. with back spasms.
If both feel good after Saturday, they could return on the Phillies road trip next week in Atlanta and Kansas City.
ON DECK
LHP Cristopher Sanchez (8-8, 3.63 ERA) will start for the Phillies against LHP Mackenzie Gore (7-10, 4.50) for Washington. It will be the third straight lefty the Nationals throw at Philadelphia.
