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It wasn’t the prettiest win of the season. It took ten innings - and a 2020 rule change - to do it. But in the end, the Phillies came away with a 6-5 victory over the Nationals that capped off a four-game sweep of the 2019 World Series champions.
And since we won’t see the Nats again for a couple of weeks, let’s take one more look at this classic tweet:
Beating Philadelphia isn't as hard as Philadelphians say it is.#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/sDhhsCSnAG
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 25, 2020
As they often do, the Phillies jumped off to an early lead when Nationals’ third baseman Brock Holt couldn’t handle a hard-hit ball off the bat of Didi Gregorius.
Didi Gregorius puts the #Phillies ahead 2-0 on a hot shot towards Brock Holt. The ruling was an error on Holt. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/KvJjYleL2j
— Justin Groc (@jgroc) September 3, 2020
Unfortunately, the Phillies returned the favor when center fielder Roman Quinn misplayed a ball into a two-run inside-the-park home run.
Gotta give credit where credit is due to Trea Turner for this inside-the-park home run. But I repeat: Roman Quinn doesn't know what he's doing in the OF pic.twitter.com/I9Zt2aCrtD
— Shaun Nestor (@shaun_nestor) September 3, 2020
The Phillies went back ahead thanks to a solo home run by Rhys Hoskins and an RBI double by Gregorius. But the Nats answered with two of their own in the fifth to tie it up again.
Hopes of a sweep dimmed after David Phelps gave up a home run to Michael Taylor, and the Phillies offense temporarily went quiet against the Nationals’ bullpen. But aside from Phelps, the Phillies’ bullpen was surprisingly competent in this one. Tommy Hunter, JoJo Romero, Hector Neris, and Blake Parker all delivered scoreless outings, giving the Phillies’ offense a chance to eventually come back.
And come back they did. They scratched out a run in the eighth, and in the bottom of the tenth, took advantage of the new rule that extra innings begin with a runner on second. J.T. Realmuto started off on second base and was promptly sacrificed to third base. With one out, Alec Bohm hit a ball to center field. Based on his reaction, Bohm didn’t think he got enough of it for the run to score, but that didn’t stop Realmuto.
And Bohm goes the dynamite. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/RqY6ILpoGz
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 3, 2020
Realmuto may have good speed, but that was a really crappy throw. I guess that’s an example of why the 2020 Nationals are extremely unlikely to repeat as champions.
The Phillies have now won nine out of ten games - just like Bryce Harper predicted - and with the former champs behind them, will head to New York to take on the Mets. Considering how the series went the last time these teams met, there’s a good chance that the Phillies’ winning ways will continue.