Washington continues its strong play and holds off its fierce NL East rival.
It’s been years since a Washington Nationals-Philadelphia Phillies series has carried the weight of this week’s four-game set at Nationals Park. The division rivals have played noteworthy matchups, but this time they both have winning records and something to play for.
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After a 1-hour 32-minute weather delay, the Nationals had the advantage. They beat the Phillies, 4-1, behind a career-high 7⅓ innings from Foster Griffin and home runs from Luis García Jr. and Curtis Mead.
It’s only June, but this series could be the difference between making the postseason or starting an early vacation. The Phillies took two out of three in Philadelphia earlier this year, but both have improved since then. The Phillies made the leap after firing manager Rob Thomson at the end of April, while the Nationals have made steady progress throughout the season.
Now the teams were meeting again, and while the Nationals’ clubhouse was aware of the stakes, Manager Blake Butera said they were treating it just like any other game. They were excited for the challenge and looked over their game plan while munching on appropriately themed pregame plates of cheesesteaks.
“We all come here to win,” García said through an interpreter. “We’re working toward something. Of course they are also doing the same. It’s really tight right now but from our side it’s just come, keep working and win games.”
So that’s exactly what the Nationals did on Monday. They put a run across in the first inning off opener Tim Mayza after James Wood doubled, advanced to third on a deep flyout from Curtis Mead and scored on a single from Dylan Crews. García doubled the lead in the second inning off Alan Rangel, slugging his 11th homer of the season. Rangel, who was called up Monday, pitched five bulk innings for the Phillies, allowing just one run.
That gave Griffin a bit of a security net as he worked through his start. The Phillies can be a tough lineup to crack — they scored 25 runs in a series win over the New York Mets this past weekend — but they were no problem for Griffin.
“There’s some big names over there, they’ve put together a really good club, they’re hot right now too,” Griffin said. “It’s still a white ball and a round bat and hitting is hard. I just want to go out there with my stuff, mix pitches and try to execute.”
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His one mishap came in the seventh, when Brandon Marsh hit a fastball to right field for a solo shot. In the bottom of the inning, with righty Seth Johnson on the mound for the Phillies, Mead immediately shifted the momentum back to the Nationals, turning on a full-count slider for a two-run homer.
“He came in here with a goal to really attack lefties and he’s fought his way into the lineup against righties and had some success against righties and we saw it again tonight with that huge home run,” Butera said about Mead. “Gets us a little more wiggle room late in the game.”
With his team holding a 4-1 lead, Butera sent Griffin, already at 99 pitches, out to face one more batter. It was another instance of Butera trusting Griffin late in the game, and once again Butera rewarded his manager. Six pitches later, Griffin accomplished his mission, getting Rafael Marchán to ground out. The veteran southpaw exited to a standing ovation from the spattering of fans who remained after the lengthy delay, showing him love after he achieved the career milestone.
Griffin tied a career high with nine strikeouts, generating 16 whiffs while holding the Phillies to just four hits. The cutter was strong, and his four-seam fastball was the best Butera said he had seen it.
“He just had everything working,” Butera said. “It was an unbelievable performance against this good of a lineup.”
Richard Lovelady and Clayton Beeter faced the minimum to finish out the win.
Note: DJ Herz suffered a flexor strain and is being shut down, the Nationals said. The lefty had Tommy John surgery in April 2025 and had made three rehab starts before the setback.
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Herz made his MLB debut in 2024 and had a 4.16 ERA in 19 starts.
