Philadelphia Phillies Win Series Over Nationals, Magic Number Drops to One

The Philadelphia Phillies won the final game of a four-game set against the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

When the Chicago Cubs completed a three-game sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies last week, things seemed bleak for the National League Wild Card hopefuls.

Luckily, the Phillies followed up an embarrassing series against the Cubs with a four-game set against the Washington Nationals, who they've succeeded against all season long.

The Nationals won in a rout in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday, 13-4, which brought down morale significantly. However, Philadelphia was able to come back and win Game 2 by a score of 8-2, their magic number dwindling to three with a Miami Marlins win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

On Sunday, the Phillies would send ace Zack Wheeler to the mound in hopes of picking up a series win. Wheeler delivered, throwing five shutout innings, walking none, and striking out seven.

Patrick Corbin would be on the bump for the Nats, a welcome sight for the Phillies, who have raked against him in 2022. Bryson Stott got the scoring started for the Philadelphia in the second inning by beating out a double play ball that scored Nick Castellanos from third to make it 1-0.

It was all Philadelphia from that point on.

Atta boy, Stotty! https://t.co/zssovS4J6s

— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) October 2, 2022

Stott's next time up resulted in a two-run double to right field that plated Jean Segura and Matt Vierling to make it 3-0. Bryce Harper padded the Phillies' lead with a single that brought home Stott, making it a four-run ballgame.

Kyle Schwarber broke the game wide open in the fifth, with a three-run single (yes, a single) to left-center field. This put the Phillies up 7-0. 

A casual Schwarbs three-run single nbd 💁‍♀️ https://t.co/F7q0Q1B5tf

— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) October 2, 2022

J.T. Realmuto put another run on the board for Philadelphia in the sixth inning by launching his 22nd home run of the year to right field. 

Washington would get one run back in their half of the sixth inning on a Joey Meneses RBI ground out. This made it 8-1. As the rain was constant throughout the game, it was finally delayed following the sixth inning, with the game being made official after the fifth.

The game was called about an hour or so later, as the Phillies won by a score of 8-1, bringing their magic number to two. Shortly after, the Brewers dropped another game to the Marlins, so their magic number fell to one.

Philadelphia now heads to Houston for the final series of the regular season against the Astros. Aaron Nola will be on the hill against Lance McCullers Jr. at 8:10 p.m. EDT.

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