Phillies drop sixth straight, fall below .500

Jason Vargas struggled in his final start of the 2019 season as the Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Washington Nationals, 6-1. The Phillies fall to 79-80 and have fallen below .500 for the first time all season.

The Nationals got things started early. After Trea Turner singled and Anthony Rendon walked, they moved to second and third on a double steal and Asdrubel Cabrera scored Turner with an sacrifice fly. They threatened to score more, but Adam Haseley robbed a would be three-run home run from Yan Gomes to keep the score at 1-0:

Casual. pic.twitter.com/VLpaqld8iF

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) September 26, 2019

Michael Taylor led off the second inning with a home run to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. Vargas worked into and out of jams in the third and fourth, but allowed no runs in those innings despite running his pitch count up to 80.

Meanwhile, in the top of the fourth, Cesar Hernandez ripped a solo home run to right field to cut the Phillies’ deficit to one:

Home run number five for Cesar Hernandez this September. pic.twitter.com/oNAn4ZHk4S

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) September 26, 2019

The Phillies were unable to get anything else going against Strasburg, though, and managed only three other baserunners in his six innings of work.

Vargas ran into some more trouble in the bottom of the fifth, and he was unable to work out of it this time. After loading the bases on a double by Cabrera sandwiched by walks from Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman, he was removed in favor of Edgar Garcia. Garcia walked a run in and allowed two more to score on pitches that got by catcher Andrew Knapp, and the Nationals lead grew to 5-1.

Austin Davis pitched a scoreless sixth, but allowed a solo home run to Cabrera in the seventh that extended Washington’s lead to 6-1.

In the top of the eighth, the Phillies got some back on a two-run home run by Andrew Knapp against that made it 6-3. Knapp was one bright spot this series, hitting three doubles and a home run and taking advantage of J.T. Realmuto’s absence.

Power Knapp. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/PU3bVgEWnv

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 26, 2019

Nick Pivetta pitched the eighth inning, and notably looked very good in a clean inning with two strikeouts. However, the score remained 6-3 the rest of the way, and the Nationals completed a five-game sweep of the Phillies.

Even a couple weeks ago, it was hard to imagine that the Phillies could come close to finishing under .500. Now, they have lost six straight games and find themselves below .500 for the first time all season. It certainly doesn’t help that they are limping to the finish line. Realmuto and Aaron Nola are both finished for the season, and today Jean Segura left in the fifth inning with a sprained right ankle. The Phillies wrap up their season this weekend against the Miami Marlins, and need to sweep the series in order to finish over .500 for the first time since 2011.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

• Jason Vargas did not pitch well on Thursday. He ran into trouble in every inning, and failed to make it out of the fifth inning for the fourth time in his last six starts. Vargas has an $8 million option in 2020, and it seems very unlikely that the Phillies would pick it up to keep him here for another year. His line: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
• Stephen Strasburg was great on Thursday. His line: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 10 K

Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Stephen Strasburg

The Nationals came into this game just half a game ahead of the Brewers, and they needed a good performance out of Strasburg. They got a dominant one, as Strasburg struck out 10 while only allowing four baserunners in six innings of work in his final start of the regular season.

Ticket IQ Next Game 

• Friday 7:05 vs. Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park
• NBC Sports Philadelphia 
• Sportsradio 94 WIP; WTTM 1680 (Spanish).

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