Phillies top Nationals to help playoff chances

Rhys Hoskins hit his 30th home run and Bailey Falter pitched six scoreless innings as the Philadelphia Phillies ended a five-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the host Washington Nationals on Friday. The game was originally planned to be the first game of a day-night doubleheader, but remnants of Hurricane Ian arrived in the area sooner than expected and the nightcap was rescheduled for Saturday night as part of a twin bill. Falter (6-4) allowed just three hits to go along with six strikeouts and two walks to lead the Phillies to a much-needed win, while slicing their magic number in order to clinch a playoff spot to five. The Phillies entered the day having lost 10 of their past 13 games to put their playoff chances in jeopardy. They are in a tight race with the Milwaukee Brewers for the final National League wild-card spot. The Phillies defeated the Nationals for the 14th time in the teams' 16 meetings this year, with three games left in the season series. After the Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first on Hoskins' solo home run to right, they extended their advantage to 2-0 in the fourth inning on Jean Segura's single that scored Brandon Marsh, who had doubled with two outs. Philadelphia tacked on another run in the sixth. After Nick Castellanos reached second on a throwing error by shortstop CJ Abrams, he took third on Marsh's single to right. He crossed the plate when reliever Jordan Weems balked. The Nationals, who lost for the eighth time in their past 11 games, pulled to within 3-1 in the seventh when Alex Call scored on Luis Garcia's two-out single to left off Zach Eflin. In the ninth, the Phillies tacked on two runs, with Hoskins' run-scoring single bringing home Segura and J.T. Realmuto's RBI groundout scoring Bryson Stott. Washington starter Erick Fedde (6-12) allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless eighth for the Phillies and Seranthony Dominguez blanked the Nationals in the ninth, retiring Victor Robles and Cesar Hernandez after loading the bases with one out. Realmuto, who stole three bases, finished with two hits, as did Stott, Marsh, Segura and Hoskins. Joey Meneses had two hits for Washington. --Field Level Media