Brady House’s pinch hit home run and starting pitcher Miles Mikolas’ sacrifice bunt RBI helped Washington end its seven-game slide.
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PHILADELPHIA — With three top contributors traded to other teams and two-time all-star James Wood on the injured list, the Washington Nationals made decisions Wednesday that showed they are turning their attention to the future.
But the Nationals still managed to scrape together a win, utilizing the entire team, even getting a successful bunt from starter Miles Mikolas, to beat the Phillies 10-4 in 11 innings to snap a seven-game losing streak.
“It feels great,” Manager Blake Butera said. “Obviously we know what we’ve been going through the last week to 10 days. … Guys being resilient and getting through it, literally using everybody to get this one.”
They are still facing an uphill battle if they want to turn the season around, but the win is a sigh of relief after an emotional week and a burst of joy for a clubhouse that has had every reason to be down on themselves.
“It’s a good morale booster,” Mikolas, who reaches 10 years of service time on Thursday, said. “Just fighting tooth and nail. We’re not going to let this game go, and we’re not going to let this season go.”
Before the game, Zack Littell, who had a 4.97 ERA, was designated for assignment. The team has not announced a replacement in the rotation, but Jackson Kent and Luis Perales are two arms that Manager Blake Butera said he has his eyes on.
Littell received the largest free agent contract from the new front office last offseason. If Littell is picked up by another team, they will be on the hook for the remainder of his $7 million contract and $4 million buyout. But if he’s not claimed and decides to sign elsewhere, the Nationals will be responsible for the difference between his new deal and the amount remaining on his current contract.
The organization also released outfielder Joey Wiemer, opting instead to bring up Andrew Pinckney, giving the player they drafted in the fourth round in 2023 a chance to see whether he can hang in the majors.
These moves could be just the start as the team evaluates what additions it needs this winter.
They found success on Wednesday with a mix of players they already know are going to be a part of their future moving forward — such as shortstop CJ Abrams, who hit leadoff for the first time this season — and those they are still deciding on.
In the first inning, Abrams was hit by a pitch and Abimelec Ortiz, playing in his fourth MLB game, followed with a base hit. Keibert Ruiz then hit an RBI single to send in Abrams to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, Luis Arraez smashed a solo home run to tie the game, and Justin Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. They held on to that lead for the remainder of Jake Irvin’s start as Irvin sent down the remaining 11 batters he faced.
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With one out in the sixth, Will Dion, acquired Monday from the Cleveland Guardians as part of the Foster Griffin trade, made his Nationals debut. He walked Bryce Harper, then got Arraez to ground into a double play to end the inning.
In the top of the seventh, the Nationals took the lead back. Brady House hit a pinch-hit, opposite-field home run to tie the game. Then Jacob Young hit a double and scored on a single from Abrams.
With a 3-2 lead, Yovanny Cruz, acquired from the Yankees in the Luis García Jr. deal, took the mound. While he showed off his high velocity — his four-seamer averaged 100.4 mph and reached 101.1 mph — his command wasn’t all the way there. He faced only four batters, walking one, allowing two singles and striking out one. He was tabbed with letting in one run as the Phillies tied the game.
The game remained tied until the 10th, when Nasim Nuñez earned a bases-loaded walk to give the Nationals a 4-3 lead. But the Phillies got one back right away, ghost runner Derek Hill stealing third then scoring on a sacrifice fly.
In the 11th, with House on second and Jacob Young on first, Abrams hit a triple to the center field wall. Young and House scored, but Hill had a scary collision with the wall while trying to make the play. He was able to walk back to the Phillies’ dugout.
Out of bench players, the Nationals had to turn to Mikolas. He’s been begging Butera to let him hit all season, and annoying his teammates about stories of his two home runs. When he was told they might need him, he sprinted into the clubhouse to put on cleats and borrow a bat from Jacob Young.
He practiced a few times in the cage, then delivered in the game, executing a sacrifice bunt and earning an RBI as Abrams slid safely home. The dugout, which had looked depleted and void of energy the last couple of days, was fired up watching Mikolas, who hadn’t taken an at-bat in five years, come through in a big spot.
“I felt like a kid again,” Irvin said of watching Mikolas hit, adding later. “I think that’s just the beauty of baseball in general. We have a young locker room, but having the 30-whatever-year-old coming off the bench and just being all smiles, like I don’t know Miles is just a special guy. It’s cool that we all got to experience something like that with him. Going forward, that’s what it’s all about.”
The Nationals added three more runs to take a 10-4 lead, and Brad Lord, in his first appearance back from the injured list, shut the Phillies down to end it.
The win alone isn’t enough to save the season. But it was, at least, a reminder that they are on the right track, even if a part of the page is already being turned.
“We’re not losing hope, by any means,” Butera said. “We’re going to have to grind out some games like we did tonight. At the end of the day, we’ll do whatever it takes to win games.”
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