WASHINGTON _ By the time this day ends, the Phillies will have played more than a third of their games this season against the Nationals. No team boasts a more powerful offense than Washington. The Nationals have plans to play deep into October.
The schedule, with 12 of the season's first 35 games, was not kind.
"When you're facing teams of this caliber, like the Nationals, their offensive statistics are way above everybody else in baseball," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "So that wasn't a good draw on our part."
But after a 4-3 comeback win in the first game of Sunday's day-night doubleheader, the Phillies inched closer to a time when they can expect to not merely play the Nationals close, but beat them on a regular basis. Washington is 17-8 against everyone else this season and 6-5 against the Phillies. Progress.
Nine of the 11 games have been decided by two runs or fewer. Five of them have been decided on walk-off hits, with the Phillies 2-3 in those games.
The Phillies pelted Shawn Kelley, the maligned Nationals closer, in the ninth inning. Aaron Altherr started the rally with a deep homer to left. Maikel Franco, who admired a deep fly to center, just missed a game-tying homer and settled for a double. Cameron Rupp followed with a double to tie it.
Then, with Koda Glover on the mound, little-used reserve Ty Kelly hit a run-scoring single to right. The Phillies, behind since the first inning, now led.
Hector Neris, mired in his own malaise, sealed the win with his fourth save. Joely Rodriguez and Joaquin Benoit tossed three scoreless innings to keep the game close enough to support the ninth-inning turnaround.
