It took one inning. That’s all the Nationals needed Thursday night to turn five-plus innings of frustration into something they could finally pack on their flight to Cincinnati— a win.
Luis Garcia Jr. singled, doubled, and drove in a run, Brad Lord picked up his first big-league win, and the Nationals dodged a sweep at Citizens Bank Park with a 4-2 victory over the Phillies.
It was Washington’s first win in four tries, and they didn’t exactly make it easy.
For five innings, Phillies starter Taijuan Walker looked like he was back in form, cruising along with a one-hit shutout. But then came the sixth — a frame that will probably haunt Philadelphia long after the lights went out.
It started innocently enough: a CJ Abrams double. Then came James Wood, whose line drive caromed off Walker’s leg. Walker stayed in, but the inning spiraled — an RBI single by Nathaniel Lowe tied it at 1, Bryce Harper misplayed Keibert Ruiz’s grounder at first, turning it into a go-ahead run, Garcia followed with an RBI single, and the Nats capped the rally with a double steal that saw Garcia race home.
Lord, meanwhile, was calm in his fifth career start. The rookie right-hander worked into the sixth, scattering six hits and two runs, striking out four and walking just one. Jose A. Ferrer shut the door with two scoreless innings, and Kyle Finnegan grabbed his 10th save.
Trea Turner had three hits for the Phillies, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped. Alec Bohm briefly put Philadelphia on top with an RBI single in the fifth, but the lead lasted all of 10 minutes.
And in the blink-and-you-missed-it department: Kyle Schwarber drew an eighth-inning walk, quietly extending his on-base streak to 37 games — the longest active streak in the majors.
The takeaway: The Nationals avoided a sweep. Lord got his first win. And the Phillies? Well, they got a reminder that sometimes, one bad inning is all it takes.
