PHILADELPHIA _ The Mummers had nothing on this parade.
Beginning in the fourth inning Wednesday night, seven Phillies relievers made the march from the bullpen to the mound. Two of them came and went in the span of two batters in the seventh inning. Manager Gabe Kapler, a man who does not believe in designating a closer to record the final few outs of a game, put his right hand in the air more often than an oath-taker and motioned out to right-center field like some kind of crazed orchestra conductor.
It was "Bullpen by Gabe," in all its glory. And somehow, it worked out.
After three gut-wrenching losses in the past two weeks pushed the Phillies to the outside of the National League playoff race, they finally won a game that got wild and crazy in the late innings. They clipped the Washington Nationals, 8-6, narrowly avoiding a three-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park and shaving their NL East deficit back to four games behind the Atlanta Braves, who were trailing and in a rain delay at home against the Tampa Bay Rays.
By the time it was over and veteran right-hander Tommy Hunter had recorded the clutchest of six-out saves, the Phillies had only one reliever remaining in their bullpen, which must have made lefty Adam Morgan feel like the loneliest guy in the ballpark. Ultimately, though, Kapler would've felt much lonelier if it hadn't worked out as well as it did.
A few hours before the game, Kapler admitted he has rethought his stance on a closer-less bullpen at times this season. His philosophy since mid-May, when Hector Neris lost his grip on the closer role he held for most of last season, has been to use his best relievers in the highest-leverage situations of a game regardless of the inning.
That was why he turned to Neris to escape a one-out jam in the sixth inning (he did) and Seranthony Dominguez to keep the game tied in the seventh (he did). Once newly acquired slugger Jose Baustista gave the Phillies a 7-6 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, it was Pat Neshek's turn in the top of the eighth. But the sidearming right-hander gave up a leadoff single and got hooked right away.
Lefty Luis Avilan walked pinch-hitting Bryce Harper, and then Kapler played one of the last two cards he had, going to Hunter to hold the lead. Hunter got Mark Reynolds to fly out and Adam Eaton to ground into a double play before tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
Just like it was scripted, right?
Generally speaking, Jake Arrieta has been what the Phillies expected when they signed him in spring training. This time, though, they turned to their $75 million No. 2 starter and the veteran leader of their young rotation to avert a three-game sweep, and he only fumbled an early hole and left them in a hole.
Arrieta lasted only three innings, matching a May 13 dud against the St. Louis Cardinals for his shortest start of the season. He was given a 2-0 lead in the second inning and turned it into a 4-2 deficit in a span of four batters in the third.
There was no blaming the shift this time, either. Arrieta gave up a one-out triple to Adam Eaton and two-run home runs to Trea Turner and Juan Soto. In the case of the latter, Arrieta fell behind 3-0 and served up a sinker that Soto rocketed off an empty seat in the left-field bleachers.
Anthony Rendon's leadoff homer in the fifth against reliever Luis Garcia stretched the Nationals' lead to 5-2. But after blowing a three-run edge in Tuesday night's crushing loss, the Phillies would rally this time from three runs down.
It all began with a pinch-hit single by Asdrubal Cabrera to open the fifth inning. Roman Quinn followed with a single, and after back-to-back strikeouts of Rhys Hoskins and Cesar Hernandez, Wilson Ramos drew a walk to load the bases for Carlos Santana, whose nickname _ "The Real Slamtana" _ has inspired a T-shirt that is often worn around the clubhouse before games.
Santana lived up to the moniker, at last, by cranking his third career grand slam _ and first since 2015 _ to straightaway center field and give the Phillies a 6-5 lead.
