They began August with eight consecutive victories. They ended it with five wins in a row. In between, they lost 11 of 15 games.
Not even Six Flags has a roller coaster quite like the Phillies.
Say this, though, as September dawns: The Phillies are firmly in the playoff hunt. With yet another burst of offense Tuesday night in Washington, they defeated the Nationals, 12-6, inching closer in the wild-card race and continuing to put pressure on the division-leading Atlanta Braves.
Trailing 5-3 through five innings, the Phillies scored six runs in the sixth. They tied the game on rookie Rafael Marchan’s two-run homer against Nationals starter Patrick Corbin, pulled ahead on a bases-loaded two-run single by MVP candidate Bryce Harper, and poured it on from there.
Never mind that the lineup included a center fielder who cleared waivers last week (Jorge Bonifacio), an outfielder at first base (Matt Vierling), and a catcher who hadn’t homered in 267 plate appearances at any level this season (Marchan). The Phillies scored at least seven runs for the sixth game in a row, their longest streak in 88 years. In 1933, with Hall of Famer Chuck Klein playing the role of Harper, they scored 60 runs in a seven-game span. This group has tallied 47 runs in a half-dozen games.
Harper picked up three hits, including a bunt single that preceded Andrew McCutchen’s fourth-inning homer, and raised his average to .306 and OPS to 1.014. Vierling, called up earlier in the day from triple-A Lehigh Valley, collected four hits. Brad Miller added a pinch-hit homer.
Vierling started the sixth-inning rally with a one-out single against Corbin. Marchan, making his 12th career start and fourth in a row in place of J.T. Realmuto (ankle) and Andrew Knapp (COVID-19), hit a 93-mph sinker out to left field.
After Harper’s tiebreaking hit, McCutchen chipped in with an RBI double and scored on Odubel Herrera’s single for a 9-5 lead.
The Phillies have two paths to the postseason. In the wild-card race, they are 2½ games behind the Cincinnati Reds, who got rained out. In pursuit of a division title, they were three games behind the Braves, who were playing late at Dodger Stadium.
