Yan Gomes singled twice and drove in two runs, Juan Soto added two hits and two runs scored and the Washington Nationals defeated the host Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Tuesday.
Nationals starter Max Scherzer (6-4) tossed five solid innings and allowed two hits and one run. Scherzer, who had been struggling with a groin injury, struck out eight and walked three.
The Nationals have won three in a row.
Bryce Harper homered and singled while Rhys Hoskins homered and doubled for the Phillies. Harper and Hoskins had the only hits for the Phillies until Alec Bohm doubled and Matt Vierling singled in the ninth inning.
Phillies manager Joe Girardi was ejected after a fifth inning spat with Scherzer. Girardi asked the umpires to check Scherzer for a foreign substance and after nothing was found, Girardi was ejected.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler entered the game as a legitimate candidate for the National League Cy Young Award. But Wheeler lasted only three innings and gave up six hits and three runs with four strikeouts and one walk. Wheeler (5-4) threw 73 pitches, 46 for strikes.
The Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Josh Bell and Gomes each hit an RBI single. Wheeler threw 36 pitches in the inning.
Harper ripped a solo home run in the second, a 431-foot shot, to close the Phillies within 2-1. It was the 500th extra-base hit of Harper’s career.
In the third, Gomes added another RBI single for a 3-1 advantage.
Brad Miller opened the seventh with a walk, but Ronald Torreyes grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Luke Williams grounded out to first to end the inning.
Hoskins hit a solo homer to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the eighth inning,
In the ninth, the Phillies loaded the bases behind the hits from Bohm and Vierling and a hit-by-pitch to Ronald Torreyes. That set up Hoskins, who grounded out to shortstop with two outs to end the game.
Brad Hand recorded the final four outs for his 16th save.
–Field Level Media