Nationals slug three homers to prevent sweep by Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — Keibert Ruiz homered for the third time in four games, Alex Call and James Wood also went deep and the Washington Nationals snapped a four-game skid and avoided a series sweep with a 6-4 win over the NL-leading Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

Jacob Young’s sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth snapped a 4-all tie as the Nationals ended the Phillies’ four-game winning streak. It also ended an eight-game losing streak in Philadelphia for Washington dating to August 2023.

“We put together some good at-bats late,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “Jacob battled to get that sacrifice fly and Wood crushed the ball. Everybody talks about him needing to pull the ball, well, he pulled that one.”

The Nationals were able to get the two late runs off of Philadelphia’s two All-Star relievers. Washington loaded the bases against Matt Strahm (4-2) when Young was able to get good contact on a high fastball out of the zone and drive it deep enough to score Andres Chaparro.

In the ninth, Wood crushed a 3-1 fastball off Jeff Hoffman 417 feet to right-center for his fifth homer of the season to add an insurance run for the Nationals.

“It felt good,” Wood said. “It was a close game in the ninth inning. I was just happy to put an extra run on the board to help our pitching staff. We showed some toughness. We’re trying to play for each other and scratch out a couple wins here.”

Ruiz hit a two-run homer in the third off Phillies starter Taijuan Walker. Call followed an inning later with his third this season, and second in the series.

Call’s 397-foot shot to left field chased Walker, who lasted 4 2/3 innings and threw 99 pitches, 61 for strikes. The 32-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked three.

“I’m still not throwing enough strikes,” said Walker, who was making his second start after missing six weeks with an inflamed index finger on his throwing hand. “It’s too many pitches, especially for five innings. I like to go deep in games — six or seven innings. I’m just throwing away pitches right now.”

Jacob Barnes (7-2) pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings and earned the win in relief. Kyle Finnegan picked up his 31st save and made an acrobatic play to start a double play to secure the win.

C.J. Abrams stole three bases for Washington. It’s the third time he has accomplished the feat this season, tying the Washington franchise record for most games with three or more stolen bases. Philadelphia’s Trea Turner set the record as a member of the Nationals in 2017. Abrams was trying for a fourth, but was picked off second by Walker in the third inning.

Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh hit back-to-back homers and Turner also went deep for Philadelphia.

“This was a tough one today, but (after winning four straight) we got that feeling again,” Marsh said. “We just got to keep rolling.”

Turner had a pair of hits off Washington starter Jake Irvin, including a solo shot into the shrubbery in center field leading off the third inning.

Turner, who was benched for a game against Miami earlier this week after a 16-game stretch in which he went 10 for 70, finished the four-game series against the Nationals with 10 hits.

Nick Castellanos drove in the Phillies’ other run with an RBI single in the first inning.

Travis Blankenhorn added an RBI single for Washington.

“Any time you finish off a road trip with a win it’s good for the team,” Irvin said. “Our offense did some cool things. Props to those guys. They’ve been working hard and the bullpen held it down.”

Alec Bohm extended his on-base streak to 35 games with a single in the first inning. It is the longest run by a Philadelphia player since Chase Utley had a 36-game streak in 2006.

Washington returns home to begin a three-game series against Colorado on Tuesday. Left-hander D.J. Herz (2-5, 4.25) will go for the Nationals against Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber (3-8, 4.82).

Philadelphia heads to Atlanta for an important NL East three-game series. Right-hander Zack Wheeler (12-5, 2.72) will pitch for the Phillies. The Braves have not announced a starter.