Kyle Schwarber hits two bombs in Phillies 11-0 demolition of Nats

Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs, adding to his NL-leading total, as the Phillies demolished the Nationals 11-0 on Tuesday night.

Phillies (43-38) Beat Nationals (29-53) 

• Winning Pitcher: Cristopher Sanchez (1-1, 3.48)
• Losing Pitcher: Paolo Espino (0-2, 3.33)
• Save: n/a

The Phillies notched their second consecutive shutout and totally outclassed the Nationals on Tuesday night as they improved to 21-9 in their first 30 games under interim-manager Rob Thomson. With the win, the Phils pulled even with the St. Louis Cardinals for the last wildcard spot in the National League.

Kyle Schwarber, the NL Player of the Month in June, is quickly making his case to take home the award in July as well. Schwarber hit his 24th and 25th home runs of the season and JT Realmuto added his 6th, with a 2-run shot in the 5th inning to put the Phils up 6-0.

Cristopher Sanchez did a fantastic job taking the mound in the place of injured starters Zach Eflin and Ranger Suarez, who was placed on the IL with back spasms over the weekend. Sanchez tossed five shutout innings, allowing only two hits, while picking up his first win of the season. Sanchez only managed to throw 35 of his 60 pitches for strikes, and induced only four swinging strikes, but the Nationals anemic offense, playing without Juan Soto or Nelson Cruz was unable to make him pay for his mistakes.

The Phils will need Sanchez and fellow spot-starter Bailey Falter to continue throwing at a high level while they wait to see how much time two of their important pieces to the rotation will miss.

Jeurys Familia, Andrew Bellatti, and Mark Appel combined for three innings of scoreless relief, helped no doubt by the offense, that had staked them a 6-0 lead before entering the game. Altogether the Phils pitching limited the Nats to just three hits, while allowing only three runners to reach scoring position.

Darick Hall continues to impress since being called up from Lehigh Valley last week. Hall went 3-4 with an RBI single in the 6th to push his average to .304. Hall also crushed a ball to deep center field over the head of the Nat’s Victor Robles in the 4th inning. That one just missed leaving the park, but kicked off the wall, allowing Hall to reach on an easy double. I full expect a regression from Hall, once teams watch more tape and craft a strategy for getting him out, but the early returns are all positive for the former 14th round pick from Dallas Baptist University.

The Phils should 100% sweep this dumpster fire of a baseball team they call the Washington Nationals. The Nationals front office should be embarrassed at how fast the team has fallen off a cliff since winning the 2019 World Series. Free Juan Soto! Im sure we can find a corner outfield spot for him in South Philadelphia.

Kyle Schwarber hits his NL leading 24th home run of the season to put the Phils on the board in the bottom half of the 1st inning.

1-0 Phils

Nick Castellanos looks a bit awkward making a read on the ball but recovers nicely to make a nice grab in right field.

Kyle Schwarber hits his second home run of the game to the upper deck in right field.

2-0 Phils

Darick Hall just barely misses a home run to deep center field, moving Nick Castellanos to third.

JT Realmuto does a nice job getting the ball in the air for the sac-fly in the 4th inning to score Nick Castellanos from third base.

3-0 Phils

Alec Bohm drives in Darick Hall from third base with an RBI single in 4th inning.

4-0 Phils

JT REALMUTO WITH AN OPPO TACO!!

6-0 Phils

Nick Castellanos shatters his bat and brings home 2 runs!

8-0 Phils

Darick Hall hustles down the 1st base line for an RBI!

9-0 Phils

Alec Bohm tacks on his second and third RBI of the night in the 6th inning.

11-0 Phils

Up Next for the Phillies

The Phillies take on the Washington Nationals in the second game of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

Aaron Nola (5-5, 3.13) will toe the rubber facing off against Josiah Gray (6-5, 4.22) with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm.

NBC Sports Philadelphia will carry the broadcast of the game.

Mandatory Photo Credit: Philadelphia Phillies