Nationals fall short vs. Phillies, who snap five

Stop me if you have heard this before: The Washington Nationals hoped for innings from their starter Saturday — six, maybe more — because their bullpen needed a chance to catch its breath. But unlike many similar cases in the past few seasons, the task felt bigger than just getting through another day, than avoiding injuries, than doing everything not to tax relievers who are already overtaxed.

Here on June 3, a day not usually pegged for watching the standings, was a battle for sole possession of fourth place in the National League East. The Nationals lost that battle, 4-2, after MacKenzie Gore pitched six innings and the bullpen held the Philadelphia Phillies to one run. The bats just couldn't beat seven Phillies relievers at Nationals Park.

"It's going to be tough because you don't face the same pitcher for three at-bats," catcher Keibert Ruiz said of Philadelphia's bullpen game. "But, I mean, that's not an excuse. I feel like we played a good game. The game was close, and we just got to keep your head up and come back tomorrow and win the series."

Some disclaimers: Nothing is decided in early June, and no team aspires for fourth place. But for Washington (25-33), it's a win to be hanging with the struggling Phillies (26-32) more than two months into the season. The Nationals are rebuilding, but the Phillies were built to win in 2023. The Nationals have retooled, but the Phillies employ Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Josh Harrison, hitting coach Kevin Long and even World Series hero Howie Kendrick in their front office. The Nationals and Phillies are supposed to be trending in opposite directions, even though Philadelphia entered Saturday having lost five in a row.

So if there are moral victories in baseball, the Nationals came close to one Saturday. And if they beat Philadelphia on Sunday, they will take the series and the teams will have identical records again.

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Over his six innings, Gore yielded a lot of hard contact but only three runs. Harrison, the former Nationals utility man, tagged him for an RBI single in the second. Turner, the former Nationals shortstop, tagged him for an RBI double in the third. Otherwise, Gore limited the Phillies until J.T. Realmuto took him deep in the sixth, smacking a misplaced fastball out to left-center.

Oddly, lefties have given the southpaw trouble this season, but Gore held Schwarber, Harper and Brandon Marsh to a 2-for-9 showing Saturday with two singles and four strikeouts. Gore induced 18 whiffs on the Phillies’ 55 swings, including nine with his fastball, five with his slider and four with his curve. He threw 101 pitches and gave Washington a chance.

"Made some mistakes that really cost us," Gore said. "All the runs were on pitches that were just not executed. So frustrating when it comes to that. But we were able to get through six."

The offense couldn't close a tight gap, nor could the bullpen keep the deficit at one. Before Gore exited, the Nationals knotted the score in the fourth when Ruiz slapped an RBI single and CJ Abrams brought in Dominic Smith by grounding into a double play. After Gore exited, Washington didn't push a runner past first base. And to pad their lead, the Phillies got to Erasmo Ramírez in the eighth, his second inning of work.

Harper started the inning with a scorched double to left. Ramírez then walked Turner, putting two on with none down. Manager Dave Martinez turned to Chad Kuhl, who is new to the bullpen and escaped the jam with only one more run on the board. But the entire sequence showed how shorthanded Martinez's bullpen is. He doesn't have any lefties to match up with Schwarber or Harper, which has been relevant in both games of this series. When he's trailing by a run or two, his options typically are Ramírez, Kuhl and rookie Thaddeus Ward because he has to save his high-leverage arms for clear-cut opportunities to win.

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To edge the Phillies on Friday, Kyle Finnegan threw 34 pitches, Carl Edwards Jr. threw 20, Hunter Harvey threw 16 and Mason Thompson threw 11. With Finnegan unavailable and Martinez not inclined to ride Edwards or Harvey while behind, Ramírez and Kuhl held their own. Kuhl impressed, recording six outs and touching 97 mph with his fastball. In the end, though, relievers Matt Strahm, Andrew Vasquez, Dylan Covey, Yunior Marte, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Craig Kimbrel had the Phillies on top.

The Nationals didn't entirely help themselves. Home plate umpire Ben May didn't always help them, either. Washington made two outs while on first base: Alex Call was picked off to end the fifth, then Luis García didn't retreat on a soft liner to Harrison at second base in the eighth, resulting in an inning-ending double play. May rung up Lane Thomas on questionable calls to hamper rallies with runners on base in the third and fifth. Martinez didn't parse his words when asked about Thomas's at-bats.

"Let's be honest: They’re not tough [calls] — they were horrible, all right?" Martinez said. "We’re going to be honest about that one: They were two horrific calls. It stinks. As a hitter, you go up there battling, and you get two called strikes like that. I never get angry with the umpires; I mean, they have a job to do, and it's a tough job.

"But in a big moment like that, those are bad calls."