WASHINGTON — For two and a half weeks, as the Phillies pumped life back into their season, the bats were the defibrillator. But some of the paddles needed to be recharged Saturday.
Nine innings were enough for Rhys Hoskins.
With Hoskins getting a breather and Bryce Harper out because of a blister below his left index finger, the offense sputtered. Aaron Nola dazzled for eight innings, though, and the Phillies were one out from shutting out the bottom-dwelling Washington Nationals.
But the bullpen blew it again, with lefty Brad Hand coughing up a lead this time. The game lurched into extra innings, at which point Hoskins came off the bench and delivered an RBI single to fuel a 2-1 victory before a sellout crowd on Ryan Zimmerman’s jersey retirement day.
To update the daily tally: The Phillies have won 15 of their last 17 games and are 14-2 under interim skipper Rob Thomson, the best 16-game roll to start a managerial career since Alex Cora began 14-2 with the 2018 Boston Red Sox.
But we digress ... back to Nola, that bullpen, and Hoskins.
Entering the day, the Phillies scored at least five runs in 11 of the last 16 games. They averaged 6.4 runs and 9.6 hits, benchmarks that aren’t sustainable over the long term and were unlikely to be reached without Hoskins and especially Harper in the lineup.
But Nola was so dominant that it appeared Yairo Muñoz’s solo home run in the seventh inning may actually hold up for a 1-0 victory. Nola allowed four hits — all singles — and only one runner into scoring position. He racked up eight strikeouts and was a strike-throwing machine, economical and efficient.
Asked before the game which Phillies players deserve to be in the All-Star Game next month, Thomson advocated for Nola. But he decided against bringing him out for the ninth inning at 105 pitches against the heart of the Nationals’ order. Nola’s season high is 109 pitches.
Thomson called on Hand, who flamed out as the Nationals’ closer last season. Hand walked Juan Soto to lead off the ninth and gave up a hold-your-breath long fly ball to Josh Bell, who hit four homers in the previous three games of the series.
But the Phillies put their 12th consecutive win over the Nationals — and their 11th in a row in Washington — on hold when Hand gave up a two-out pinch-hit single to Lane Thomas.
Getting defensive
The Phillies turned in a few defensive gems behind Nola.
Second baseman Bryson Stott made a sliding stop on César Hernández’s grounder in the hole in the sixth inning; center fielder Odúbel Herrera made a diving catch on Maikel Franco’s sinking line drive to end the seventh; Matt Vierling backtracked to reel in Luis Garcia’s fly ball to the right-field warning track in the eighth.
Muñoz the masher
Muñoz went 650 days between home runs in the majors when he hit a solo shot Thursday night. He now has two homers in three days.
Starting at third base because Alec Bohm filled in at first, Muñoz broke a scoreless stalemate by taking Nationals reliever Erasmo Ramirez deep in the seventh inning.
Still the Juan
Soto lugged an 0-for-14 schneid — 0 for 12 through the first three games against the Phillies — into the day before reaching on a replay-reviewed infield single in the first inning.
But the same rule always applies: When facing the Nationals, don’t let Soto beat you.
So, although Nola was cruising, the Phillies ordered an intentional walk of Soto with first base open and two out in the sixth inning once Nola fell behind 2-0 in the count. Nola promptly struck out Nelson Cruz to end the inning.
It has been an uncharacteristically poor first half for Soto, batting .218 with an .800 OPS. He also got called out by manager Dave Martinez on Friday for not running hard on a groundout.
