Derek Hill's Grand Slam Lifts Phillies Past Nationals 6-3
The Phillies outfielder's seventh-inning slam and a two-run homer from Bryce Harper delivered Philadelphia's third straight win on Monday night.
PHILADELPHIA — Derek Hill hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning and Bryce Harper added a two-run shot to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to their third straight win, 6-3 over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.
Hill's slam came off reliever Tom Cosgrove (0-1) and sent the crowd into a frenzy. It was his ninth home run of the season, and it came hours after the Phillies swung a deal for three-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants. Hill also made a running, tumbling catch in right-center in the eighth.
The rally bailed out veteran starter Aaron Nola, who has not won since May 26 and is coming off an 0-4 July with a 4.34 ERA that month. Nola gave up Abimelec Ortiz's first career home run in the first inning and Daylen Lile's 14th homer of the season in the second, a two-run shot that put Washington ahead 3-0. He struck out six over six innings and lowered his season ERA from 5.61 to 5.55.
Nola's outing again did little to support team president Dave Dombrowski's public confidence that the right-hander can contribute during the stretch run, much less in a playoff series. Dombrowski said before the game that he had talked with other teams about adding starting pitching ahead of Monday's trade deadline. He did not land a starter — though he added bullpen depth, notably Mets left-hander Brooks Raley — citing his belief in Nola and struggling rookie Andrew Painter.
"If you looked at the analytics, he's ranked like 75th in MLB of all starting pitchers," Dombrowski said of Nola. "So, I mean, when you do that, you go by 30 and divide it."
That math is unlikely to satisfy Phillies fans who wanted the club to pursue a dependable No. 4 or No. 5 starter who could be counted on to win a playoff game.
Kyle Backhus (2-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win, and Jhoan Duran worked a scoreless ninth for his 25th save.
The Phillies send Jesús Luzardo (9-5, 3.57 ERA) to the mound against Washington right-hander Zack Littell (7-8, 4.94).
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
