The red-hot Philadelphia Phillies will look for their fifth consecutive victory when they host the Washington Nationals on Friday.
Following a come-from-behind, 7-6 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday, the Phillies traveled to Chicago and swept a three-game series against the Cubs. The Phillies extended their road winning streak to nine, their longest stretch of success away from Philadelphia since 1984.
The goal now is to return home and continue the winning ways.
“Great series by the boys,” Bryce Harper said in a postgame interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Really good pitching. Timely hitting.”
Harper’s two-run, third-inning single proved to be the difference for Philadelphia, which won 3-1 on Thursday for the sweep.
“Being able to get that hit, it was huge for us,” Harper said after the Phillies moved six games above .500.
Kyle Schwarber also hit the first pitch of the game for his 21st home run.
The Phillies will hand the ball to Cristopher Sanchez (0-1, 4.05 ERA) on Friday. He allowed five hits and three runs over five innings in his latest start, a loss to the Mets on Saturday.
“I found a rhythm, for sure, as game the progressed,” Sanchez said after the outing. “For me, the goal was to attack the hitters early and to try to go as deep as possible in the game.”
Since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley in mid-June, Sanchez has struck out nine and walked one in nine total innings over two starts.
“I’m trying to take advantage of this opportunity as much as possible because I really want to be here until the end of the season,” Sanchez said.
In Sanchez’s career against the Nationals, he is 1-0 with a 7.11 ERA in five games, including two starts.
The Nationals will look for their third win in a row when they battle the Phillies.
After dropping the opener of a three-game series to the Seattle Mariners 8-4 on Monday, the Nationals responded to win 7-4 in 11 innings on Tuesday and 4-1 on Wednesday.
In the series finale, Washington scored three runs in the first inning and Patrick Corbin threw seven shutout innings, striking out nine.
On the current road trip, the Nationals took two of three against the San Diego Padres before taking two of three against the Seattle Mariners.
“Like I said before, they’re relentless,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said of his players. “They come out, they play hard. They play hard for 27 outs. I love the way they play, and the energy has been great. So we’ve got to continue to do that.”
Keibert Ruiz has been especially productive in the past two games. He hit a game-tying home run on Tuesday and added two hits and two RBIs on Wednesday.
“I feel like I’m seeing the ball better than a couple days before,” Ruiz said. “I hope I continue to do the job for the team.”
Martinez agreed.
“He’s been swinging the bat really well,” he said. “He’s been lining out, hitting the ball hard. We have to keep him grounded, tell him those things are going to happen. Keep swinging the bat. And (Wednesday), he knocked in some big runs for us.”
Washington hadn’t announced a starter for the Friday game, though a likely candidate would be Josiah Gray (5-6, 3.43 ERA). The right-hander is 1-2 with a 5.64 ERA in six career starts against the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
