Trea Turner hit two home runs in an eight-run eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies went deep five times on Saturday, rallying for a 12-3 win over the Washington Nationals.
Nick Castellanos, Jake Cave and Bryson Stott also homered for Philadelphia, which began the day two games ahead of San Francisco in the race for the top wild-card spot in the National League. The Phillies had lost four of five.
Turner became the first Phillies player to hit two home runs in an inning since Von Hayes accomplished the feat on June 11, 1985, in the first inning against the New York Mets.
“I’ve never hit two home runs in an inning,” Turner said. “I told the broadcast I’m usually the guy that makes two outs in those innings. There’s always one of those guys, and I feel like it’s usually me. It’s probably not, but that’s what it feels like, and to be on the other side of it was definitely a lot more fun.”
Riley Adams drove in two runs for Washington, which had won six of its last seven overall and 15 of 18 at home since July 8.
Turner, a former member of the Nationals, led off the eighth inning by sending Cory Abbott’s 93-mph fastball into the seats in left. Abbott (1-2) allowed seven more runs, including a three-run homer by Stott that preceded Turner’s second home run in the inning.
Turner was hitless in three at-bats and had committed an error that led to a run before his eighth-inning outburst.
“I feel like in the past I’d been good at making in-game adjustments and this year I hadn’t done that very well,” Turner said. “The last two, three weeks I’ve been able to do that when I have a bad at-bat and make an adjustment and get right back to it. The last two weeks have just felt a little more normal.”
Abbott, who hadn’t pitched since Aug. 11, fell to 0-2 with a 14.92 ERA in seven lifetime appearances against Phillies. He’s yielded 10 home runs in 12 2/3 innings against Philadelphia.
“It’s just the way it goes,” Abbott said. “The Phillies have always done well against me. I had the one outing last time against them, but I haven’t had many wins against them. They own me.”
Cave led off the ninth with a home run to right off infielder Ildemaro Vargas, who pitched for the second time this season.
The Phillies tied it at 3 on Castellanos’ three-run homer off Andrés Machado in the seventh.
“We had really good at-bats late in the game,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Nick hitting the three-run homer with two outs was just huge. It just electrified the bench. That’s what we needed. We needed that energy. Everybody was kind of down.”
Seranthony Domínguez (3-3) pitched a scoreless seventh and earned the win.
Philadelphia designated hitter Bryce Harper was booed prior to each of his plate appearances, a ritual that has been customary since he signed with the Phillies in 2019 after spending the first seven seasons of his career in Washington. Harper was 1 for 2, walked twice and was twice hit by a pitch.
Washington starter Jake Irvin threw six shutout innings and struck out seven. It appeared he would not make it out of the sixth when the Phillies loaded the bases with three singles and manager Dave Martinez came to the mound. But Martinez didn’t make a pitching change and Irvin struck out Cave on three pitches to escape the jam.
The Nationals scored twice in the fourth against Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez. Joey Meneses had an RBI single and Adams added a run-scoring double to left.
Meneses, who reached on Turner’s throwing error in the sixth, scored on Adams’ two-out single to left.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Placed LHP Ranger Suárez (right hamstring strain) on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to Wednesday) and recalled RHP Andrew Bellatti from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. … Thomson said OF Brandon Marsh (left knee) will rejoin the team from a rehabilitation assignment Sunday. … Thomson said he anticipates LHP José Alvarado (elbow) will be activated Monday. … RHP Taijuan Walker threw a 25-pitch bullpen session and is on track to start Tuesday against San Francisco.
Nationals: RHP Tanner Rainey (Tommy John surgery) allowed two runs while recording two outs in a rehabilitation appearance Friday for Class A Fredericksburg.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Zack Wheeler (9-5, 3.63 ERA), who is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break, starts the series finale in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Nationals: RHP Trevor Williams (5-7, 5.20) is 0-2 with an 11.08 ERA and seven home runs allowed in 13 innings over his last three starts.
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