Phillies Look to Grab Wild Card Spot Against Nationals

Following their 2-1 series win against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies host the Washington Nationals.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies hope to take advantage of a depleted, possibly Juan Soto-less Washington Nationals team to jump ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for a NL Wild Card spot.

The Phillies met the Nats for the first time in 2022 in mid-June for a five-game set. Philadelphia won four of those five games, which helped to be a real morale boost for the then-relatively new interim manager Rob Thomson.

Since then, the Phillies have been holding up to some stiff competition, with their most recent series against the St. Louis Cardinals being a fine example. That series carried heavy implications for the third NL Wild Card spot, as Philadelphia is now just one game out after St. Louis lost to the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

Rhys Hoskins stares at this homerun against the St. Louis Cardinals / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps this pressure made the Phillies' offense erupt, scoring 15 runs across the three-game set. Key contributors have been Rhys Hoskins, who slugged .444/.539/1.222 with two home runs and three RBI in the series. J.T. Realmuto also had himself quite the series as he hit .333/.333/.667 with a home run and two RBI.

These are the types of contributions that the Phillies will need moving forward with both Bryce Harper and Jean Segura out for the foreseeable future.

Apart from the losses to their offense from injuries, their pitching is suffering from the same problem. Both Zach Eflin and Ranger Suárez are currently on the IL, Suárez with a lower back spasm and Eflin with a right knee bruise.

Meanwhile, the Nationals are coming off of a series against the Miami Marlins, which didn't go too well. Miami pulled off a four-game sweep in Washington.

Let's take a look at the pitching match-ups for this series:

Game One:

Phillies starter: Cristopher Sanchez (0-1, 4.60)

Nationals starter: Paolo Espino (0-1, 2.80 ERA)

Cristopher Sánchez will be opening the series for the Phillies, making his first major league appearance in nearly a month. Sánchez's last start came in May against the New York Mets, where he allowed two hits and two runs over 2.1 innings.

Paolo Espino grabs the start for the Nationals on Tuesday, as the hunt for his first win of the season continues. In his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Espino allowed five hits and four runs across 4.1 innings. 

First pitch: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Game Two:

Phillies starter: TBD

Nationals starter: Josiah Gray (6-5, 4.22 ERA)

Philadelphia has not settled on who they're going to send out to the mound on Wednesday, but one possible player could be Bailey Falter. Falter would be going on five days rest at that point, so it wouldn't be improbable to see him get the start. In his last time out, he opened the series against the Cardinals, where he allowed five hits and three runs in four innings.

The Nationals will send Josiah Gray to the mound on Wednesday. He'll be looking to replicate his last start against the Fightins, in which he went six innings, giving up one hit and three walks. That start is a complete 180 from his most recent outing in Miami, where he allowed ten hits and six runs across 5.2 innings. 

First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Game Three:

Phillies starter: TBD

Nationals starter: TBD

Once more, Philadelphia has yet to announce who they will have starting on Thursday to close out the series against the Nationals. An educated guess would be Kyle Gibson, who would be going on six days rest by that point. In his most recent start, Gibson struggled against the Cardinals, as he allowed six runs on seven hits through four innings. 

Similar to the Phillies, the Nationals have not announced who will be grabbing the start in the final game of the series. Going off of recent patterns, it could be Erick Fedde. In his most recent start against the Marlins, Fedde pitched a solid six innings of three-hit ball while allowing two runs and fanning six batters.

First pitch: Thursday, 4:05 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Players to Watch:

Phillies: Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber gets the player to watch tag due to his performance against the Nationals across the five-game series back in June. During that stint, Schwarber slugged .278/.458/.667 with two home runs and three RBI against his former team. It was these types of performances that helped Schwarber earn NL Player of the Month for June.

Kyle Schwarber and Matt Vierling celebrate after Vierling hit a home run against the Washington Nationals / Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Nationals: Josh Bell

Similar to Schwarber, Bell also earns the player to watch tag for his performance against the Phillies during June's five-game stint. Bell slashed .353/.500/1.059 with four home runs and six RBI. In the four series since, Bell hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, slugging .455/.520/.727. It'll be important for Philadelphia to be careful while pitching to Bell as he will make them pay for any mistake left over the plate.

Josh Bell slugs a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies / Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

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