Revenge is Sweep as Philadelphia Phillies Finish Off Nationals

The Philadelphia Phillies weren't eluded this time, and obtained a much needed sweep over the Washington Nationals.

Author:
Alex Carr
Sep 12, 2022 10:41 AM EDT

In this story:

Philadelphia Phillies

You know what they say, "revenge is a dish best served... wet?"

After they failed to complete their three-game sweep over the Miami Marlins earlier in the week, the Philadelphia Phillies must have felt pretty good about the result of Sunday night's game.

After a three-and-a-half-hour rain delay, (3:36 to be precise) they swept and mopped the Washington Nationals out of Philadelphia, gaining another game on the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card standings in the process.

In a rare and painstaking feat, Sunday's weather delay outlasted the time of the game itself. The contest took a total of three hours and 29 minutes to play.

Before Mother Nature had anything to say about it, things began well for the Phillies. Bryce Harper doubled in a run in the bottom of the first, and Aaron Nola tossed two scoreless innings to give the team an early 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, rain clouds stifled any and all momentum the Phillies had gained. Play halted at 1:59 p.m., and the game wouldn't resume until 5:35 p.m. In the time it took for the teams to get back on the field, the Philadelphia Eagles won a football game, which was broadcast to fans on Phanavision.

When the game picked back up, the Nationals managed to mount a 4-1 lead on Cristopher Sánchez, who was demoted to Triple-A following Sunday's game. He simply didn't have it, and has had a great deal of trouble commanding the baseball of late.

Things got ugly, but the tide turned in the bottom of the fifth, as Rhys Hoskins slammed a clutch, game-tying, opposite-field three-run jack to knot things up at four.

Nick Nelson, who came on in relief of Sánchez, seemed to struggle with his command as well. A leadoff walk in the top of the sixth to Israel Pineda came back to bite him, and the Nationals once again took the lead, 5-4.

Thankfully, five runs would be all the Nationals could muster, and the Phillies got one back in the bottom of that same inning, thanks to a Rhys Hoskins sac-fly. Finally, a two-run Alec Bohm shot solidified the Phillies lead one and for all.

That rounded out the scoring as the Phillies felled the Nationals, 7-5.

Philadelphia has bested Washington 13 of 15 times this season. They have completely and utterly dominated them, and will have the good fortune of facing them one more time at the tail end of the season for a four-game set.

The Phillies will take the day off on Monday, prior to opening another series against the Miami Marlins at Loan Depot Park on Tuesday.

Fortunately, they have a roof.