OOTP 5/31: Nationals 8, Phillies 6 (10 innings)

A back and forth affair between the Nationals and Phillies ends in a heartbreaker and ends with the Phillies no longer alone in first place.

Patrick Corbin was the one that got away in the Bryce Harper Offseason. He was the one who signed early and that everyone pretty much got to witness as he went on his free agency tour down the East Coast. His first season resulted in Washington winning the World Series, but his followup hasn’t exactly gone well. Entering the day with an ERA over 5, he’s been inconsistent in sim land. He was matched up against Jake Arrieta, also pitching inconsistently this year. This game reflected both of these pitcher’s seasons this year.

Washington went ahead first on a solo home run by Carter Kieboom in the second inning, but that lead didn’t last long as Arrieta helped himself by getting an RBI single to tie the ball game in the bottom of the second. In the third, Jean Segura led off with a single, then went to second on a one out walk to J.T. Realmuto. Scott Kingery singled to load the bases and Rhys Hoskins got hit by a pitch to push Segura across, giving the team the lead. Logan Forsythe went down looking for the second out, Corbin hoping to avoid any more mistakes. On the next pitch to Jay Bruce, he unloaded and cleared the bases with a double in the gap, making it 5-1. The Phillies got another in the fourth off of reliever Sterling Sharp when Segura scored on a two out wild pitch and the score was 6-1.

Arrieta, though, was apparently feeling generous when he allowed a two-run home run to the pitcher Sharp in the fifth and the Nationals pulled within three. That was how it stood going into the seventh with Arrieta still in there, but a double and single that brought another run home ended his day, bringing in Tony Cingrani, the score at 6-4 Phillies. A sacrifice bunt pushed the runner to second, but Michael Taylor stepped to the plate and drilled a 1-1 pitch into the upper deck and tied the ballgame at 6.

That was how things stayed into the bottom of the ninth when Bryce Harper hit a two-out double and brought Realmuto up. He singled to centerfield, but Harper was gunned down at the plate by Andrew Stevenson and the game went to extra innings. In the tenth, Asdrubal Cabrera, hitless in four at bats, was the hero when he hit a two-run home run that effectively ended the game as the Phillies meekly went down in order in the tenth, giving Washington an 8-6 victory.

The Phillies are off tomorrow as they travel to Miami to take on the Marlins on Tuesday.