PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luis Garcia Jr. singled, doubled and drove in a run, Brad Lord pitched effectively into the sixth inning for his first major league win and the Washington Nationals avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.
Nathaniel Lowe also drove in a run for Washington, which had lost three in a row overall.
Lord (1-3) allowed two runs and six hits in five-plus innings. The rookie right-hander struck out four and walked one.
Jose A. Ferrer fanned three in two scoreless innings of relief, and Kyle Finnegan got three outs for his 10th save.
Trea Turner had three hits for Philadelphia, which had won four straight.
Alec Bohm’s RBI single in the fifth put the Phillies in front 1-0 before the Nationals scored all their runs in the sixth off Taijuan Walker (1-3) with some help from the Phillies.
Lowe’s RBI single tied it at 1, and the Nationals went in front when Bryce Harper couldn’t field Keibert Ruiz’s hard-hit grounder at first base. Lowe scored on the error, and Ruiz reached third. Garcia’s single plated Ruiz, and the Nationals tallied their final run on a double steal, with Garcia scoring from third and Dylan Crews going from first to second.
Key moment
Walker cruised through five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, before an adventurous sixth. After a leadoff double by CJ Abrams, James Wood hit a hard liner off Walker’s leg. Walker stayed in the game but wasn’t as effective from that point forward. He didn’t make it through the inning, though only one of the four runs the Nationals scored against him was earned.
Key stat
Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber has reached base safely in 37 consecutive games after extending his streak with an eighth-inning walk.
Up next
Nationals: Open a three-game series at Cincinnati on Friday night. Washington LHP Mitchell Parker (3-1, 2.65 ERA) opposes Reds RHP Hunter Greene (3-2, 2.70).
Phillies: Begin a three-game series against Arizona on Friday night. Philadelphia LHP Jesús Luzardo (3-0, 1.73 ERA) faces Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (3-1, 4.41).
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