RING IT: Phillies sweep the Nationals, win 7-6 in series finale

Even with another bad start from Aaron Nola, the Philadelphia Phillies were able to rally from a six run deficit to beat the Washington Nationals by a final score of 7-6 yesterday afternoon. The win marked the sixth straight win for the Phillies, and the seventh game in a row that the Phillies scored at least seven runs in a ball game. With 29 games left in the 2021 MLB regular season, the Phillies enter September in the midst of a divisional and Wild Card race. At 69-64, they are now two games back in the NL East and 2.5 games back for the second spot in the NL Wild Card.

Andrew McCutchen had four RBI and Odubel Herrera added three hits of his own to lead the Phillies at the plate. The Fightins scored three runs in the sixth inning and four in the eighth to mount a huge comeback against a Nationals team that beat up Aaron Nola who lasted just four innings and gave up six hits, six earned runs, and two walks while striking out five.

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Aaron Nola is now 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in seven starts since the last time he won on July 25th. To make things worse, September is always a historically bad month for the Phillies Ace. He is 7-13 with a 4.52 ERA in 28 starts in September and October in his career. The Phillies really need to get the other version of Nola over the final stretch, where he is 58-35 with a 3.46 ERA in 138 starts over his career leading up to the final two months of the MLB season.

Luckily for the Phillies, their bullpen answered the call with Falter, De Los Santos, Hammer, Coonrod, Bradley, and Kennedy combining to allow just five hits, zero earned runs, and two walks while striking out five.

The Braves won late last night in Colorado and will have three more games against the Rockies. We’ll be scoreboard watching and trying to find a way to cut down on the two game deficit in the National League East. As for the Phillies, they headed to Miami after yesterday’s game and will open a three game series against the Marlins tonight.

Phillies Starters in Miami:

Friday: Kyle Gibson (4-2, 3.16 ERA) vs Jesus Luzardo (3-3, 7.62 ERA)

Saturday: Ranger Suarez (6-4, 1.48 ERA) vs Trevor Rogers (7-6, 2.45 ERA)

Sunday: Zack Wheeler (11-9, 3.01 ERA) vs Elieser Hernandez (1-1, 3.62 ERA)

RING IT.

Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Phillies via Twitter