{"id":4929,"date":"2026-06-24T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T07:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4929"},"modified":"2026-06-24T07:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T07:35:00","slug":"bullpen-implosion-saddles-nats-with-a-crushing-loss-to-phillies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4929","title":{"rendered":"Bullpen implosion saddles Nats with a crushing loss to Phillies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nationals reliever Brad Lord surrendered two homers and six earned runs while getting just two outs Tuesday night. (AP Photo\/Jess Rapfogel)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The scenes that transpired in the eighth and ninth innings at Nationals Park on Tuesday \u2014 as the Washington Nationals\u2019 bullpen blew the lead, watched the offense give it back to them, only to lose it again \u2014 were bound to happen and probably will keep happening. The Nationals set themselves up for this scenario by not investing in better pitching, and the Philadelphia Phillies have too powerful an offense not to take advantage of those holes.<\/p>

Read more Mets slugger Juan Soto leaves game against Cubs with back tightness<\/a><\/p>\n

So, instead of celebrating a lineup that put up nine runs, the Nationals found themselves coming to terms with a devastating 14-9 loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout as frustrating of a loss as we\u2019ve seen, as I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d Manager Blake Butera said.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the first time this season that Butera suffered a crushing defeat \u2014 the offense also blew a 9-1 lead in San Francisco earlier this month. This one, though, came against a division rival, in a game that Butera said he was managing like a playoff game.<\/p>\n

The Nationals and Phillies are jockeying for position in the competitive National League East, and while the postseason may be three months away, these are the losses they\u2019ll look back on if they don\u2019t make the cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat whole clubhouse is pretty fired up right now,\u201d Butera said. \u201cWe have to take a step back and realize this is a big series. We win yesterday, should have won today as well. Have two more games, tomorrow and the next day, against these guys. We have to come out ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nationals were in control for most of the game, jumping out to a 5-0 lead as they relied on small ball against lefty Jes\u00fas Luzardo. In the second inning, Dylan Crews reached down and hit a low changeup for a single, then advanced to third on a single from Jorbit Vivas. Crews then scored when Jacob Young grounded into a double play.<\/p>\n

Two innings later, Andr\u00e9s Chaparro and Crews hit back-to-back singles, giving Crews a second consecutive multi-hit night. Vivas walked to load the bases, and Nasim Nu\u00f1ez sent in two runs with a deep single to left field.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez then stole second, giving him an MLB-leading 30 steals. Jose Ten\u00e1 drove in two runs to give the Nationals a 5-0 lead.<\/p>\n

That advantage would be cut into, as the Nationals tried to survive another night with the pitching options they have available to them. They turned again to PJ Poulin as the opener, who got through the first inning on just eight pitches, then used Zack Littell for the middle bulk. He cruised through his first three innings, then gave up a two-run home run to Edmundo Sosa in the fifth inning,<\/p>\n

Butera then turned to Mitchell Parker. He retired the side in the sixth inning, but gave up singles to Bryson Stott and Gabriel Rincones Jr. to put two runners on with one out in the seventh.<\/p>\n

Orlando Ribalta replaced Parker, coming in to face Sosa, and narrowly got a double play ball to end the inning. Sosa beat out the throw to first, the Phillies getting one run across on the play.<\/p>

Read more Cubs manager Craig Counsell perplexed by rainout an irked by \u2018terrible rule\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Ribalta got the Nationals out of the seventh inning, but the eighth was no easier. Richard Lovelady took the mound, immediately giving up a double to Brandon Marsh. Lovelady then walked Alec Bohm and hit Bryson Stott with a pitch.<\/p>\n

Clayton Beeter took over, and with the bases loaded, JT Realmuto hit a line drive to James Wood, who almost made the diving catch but instead came up just short. Instead, the bases emptied and the Phillies took a 6-5 lead. When he reflects on the game, that\u2019s the play Wood wishes he had made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think the margins are super slim,\u201d Wood said. \u201cIf I had just come down with that ball, maybe it\u2019s a whole different game.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Nationals\u2019 offense had an answer. They took the game back, erasing the deficit with a three-run home run from Jorbit Vivas to take an 8-6 lead.<\/p>\n

Brad Lord was tasked with the ninth. He had a 2.29 ERA entering Tuesday, and had been the Nationals\u2019 most reliable reliever, and he looked the part as he got two quick outs.<\/p>\n

They needed just one more out to secure the win. But then Trea Turner reached on a single and Marsh homered to tie the game. That was followed by back-to-back singles from Bryce Harper and Derek Hill, and another home run, this time from Stott, to make it 11-8.<\/p>\n

With Paxton Schultz now on the mound, 11-8 became 14-8 before the disastrous inning was finally over. And while Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. did homer in the bottom of the ninth, it wasn\u2019t nearly enough to make up for the way the bullpen performed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sucks,\u201d Lord said. \u201cComing in with the lead, looking to get the save, and being one strike away too and then give it up like that, that hurts. It\u2019s a lot to unpack. It\u2019s the game of baseball, just have to figure out what to take from it and learn from it and try to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news, if there was any on a night such as this, is that the Nationals have rebounded from troubling losses before. Wednesday will be another test to see whether they can do that just that again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just one of 162,\u201d Wood said. \u201cI feel like that kind of always makes it a little bit easier.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Athletics\u2019 Zack Gelof loses hit streak at 24 games after getting spiked on his right hand<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAbout as frustrating of a loss as we\u2019ve seen, as I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d Manager Blake Butera said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nBullpen implosion saddles Nats with a crushing loss to Phillies - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4929\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bullpen implosion saddles Nats with a crushing loss to Phillies - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAbout as frustrating of a loss as we\u2019ve seen, as I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d Manager Blake Butera said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4929\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-24T07:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad89a3788557c62dbf2c35f9196e30a7-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Bullpen implosion saddles Nats with a crushing loss to Phillies\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T07:35:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929\"},\"wordCount\":1000,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0e52b13e2a9be2a902663093ef5c78db-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4929\",\"name\":\"Bullpen implosion saddles Nats with a crushing loss to Phillies - 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