Phillies
Phillies fall to Nats on Sunday Night Baseball as bullpen falters
Published25 Jun 2018
By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Final: Nationals 8, Phillies 6 ❖ Attendance: 29,314
It was all going as planned for the Philadelphia Phillies (41-34) on Sunday night in their first Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN matchup in five years. But then the Washington Nationals (41-35) caught fire late, thanks to a faltering Phillies bullpen to steal the victory.
The game featured an all-knotted at 2 contest early, but a scoring barrage from the Phillies helped them to a 6-2 lead heading into the sixth inning.
The Nationals racked up hit after hit, scored six unanswered runs and ran away with the win in the end. The Phillies still win the series, their fourth series win in a row, but nothing can subside the sour taste in their mouth after really dumping that game down the drain late.
WP: Ryan Madson (2-3, 4.05 ERA) ❖ LP: Seranthony Dominguez (1-2, 2.28 ERA) ❖ SV: Sean Doolittle (21)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| WSH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | x | 8 | 17 | 0 |
The Phillies got out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning thanks to an opposite-field home run from Rhys Hoskins, his 11th of the season, scoring pitcher Nick Pivetta.
Washington answered back in the bottom of the 4th when Anthony Rendon hit his ninth home run of the year on a fly ball to center field. The Phillies still maintained a 2-1 lead.
Michael A. Taylor singled off the left field wall, scoring Juan Soto to tie the game at 2.
In the top of the 5th, Odubel Herrera showed off his bat and his speed, tripling to right field scoring both Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins to extend the Phillies' lead to 4-2.
The same inning, Nick Williams showcased his power once again, hitting his ninth homer of the year, scoring Herrera and making it 6-2 Phillies, their largest lead of the game.
The bottom of the 6th inning wasn't kind to the Phillies, as three runs came across to make it a lot tighter of a ballgame than they would have liked. Trea Turner started the scoring spree with a line-drive triple to center field, scoring Adam Eaton, to make it 6-3 Phillies.
Bryce Harper doubled on a sharp line drive off of Austin Davis to Nick Williams that brought in Turner to make it a 6-4 game.
Finally, Anthony Rendon smacked his 20th double of the season on a line drive to Rhys Hoskins that scored Harper. 6-5 Phillies.
In the bottom of the 8th, with Seranthony Dominguez on the mound, Gabe Kapler made the decision to intentionally walk young phenom Juan Soto to load the bases. That led to the Phillies having to face Daniel Murphy with the bases loaded, and it wasn't pretty.
Murphy singled to right field, scored Brian Goodwin and Bryce Harper, and the Nationals jumped out to a 7-6 lead.
To add insurance heading into the 9th inning, Michael A. Taylor singled off of Dominguez, scoring Soto to give the Nationals an 8-6 lead.
Sean Doolittle shut the door en route to his 21st save of the season in the top half of the 9th inning to lead the Nationals to victory.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Pivetta | 5.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 4.06 |
| Jefry Rodriguez | 4.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5.93 |
Phillies
- Rhys Hoskins: 2-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, .257 AVG
- Odubel Herrera: 2-5, R, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 SO, .305 AVG
- Nick Williams: 1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, SO, .239 AVG
Nationals
- Bryce Harper: 3-5, 2 R, 3 2B, RBI, 2 SO, .219 AVG
- Daniel Murphy: 3-4, 2 RBI, BB, .195 AVG
- Anthony Rendon: 2-5, R, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, .288 AVG
Phillies
- RHP Edubray Ramos (6th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.24 ERA
- LHP Austin Davis (6th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
- RHP Tommy Hunter (7th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.37 ERA
- RHP Victor Arano (8th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 3.00 ERA
- RHP Seranthony Dominguez (8th): 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.28 ERA
- RHP Yacksel Rios (8th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 4.58 ERA
Nationals
- LHP Sammy Solis (5th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 4.73 ERA
- RHP Shawn Kelley (6th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.72 ERA
- LHP Matt Grace (7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.43 ERA
- RHP Ryan Madson (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.05 ERA
- LHP Sean Doolittle (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.60 ERA
- Monday, June 25, 2018: vs. New York Yankees, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Jonathan Loasaiga (1-0, 3.12 ERA) vs. RHP Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.82 ERA)
- TV: NBCSP+, MLBN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
