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PHILADELPHIA – They gave themselves another chance at another dramatic rally inside a sold-out Citizens Bank Park, in spite of the large hole Mitchell Parker dug for his teammates. The Nationals chipped away at the big deficit, got themselves to within two runs and had a chance to tie the game (or even take the lead) late against the Phillies' bullpen for the second straight night.
Perhaps it’s a good reminder just how special Friday night’s come-from-behind win was, though. These things generally don’t happen every night. And, in fact, it didn’t happen again tonight, the Phillies hanging on for a 6-4 victory to even the weekend series and set up a rubber match here Sunday afternoon.
The Nationals, who stormed back in the top of the ninth against Jhoan Duran in the opener, couldn’t make lightning strike twice, though they sure gave it a try. Brady House doubled and Robert Hassell III singled with one out off the All-Star closer, bringing the big boys to the plate representing the go-ahead run. But Duran managed to strike out James Wood and get CJ Abrams to line out to left to end the game and secure his seventh save in eight tries since his acquisition from the Phillies.
Few opponents have proven as tough on Duran as the Nats, though, who have now faced him six times in the last four weeks alone (the first two when he was still with the Twins). They've managed to bat .381 (8-for-21) against him, dramatically better than the .199 mark the rest of the sport has against him this year.
"I think we know we can beat this guy," Hassell said. "We know that anyway, but actually seeing it last night, coming into tonight, we were pretty confident."
There was a previous shot at coming all the way back one inning prior. Having already trimmed the margin to 6-3, they got doubles from Wood and Luis García Jr. off left-hander Matt Strahm, and ultimately brought Dylan Crews to the plate representing the go-ahead run. But the rookie outfielder, who sparked Friday night’s rally with a key double off Duran, just missed shooting the first pitch he saw from Orion Kerkering past second baseman Edmundo Sosa, who snagged the ball and threw to first to quash the rally.
"We had the opportunity, just like we had it in the ninth," García said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "We're a team that doesn't give up. We try to take advantage of those opportunities, but we couldn't."
The Nationals found themselves needing to rally from a sizeable deficit because of yet another disappointing start from Parker, the latest in a growing string of them.
The evening actually began in encouraging fashion for Parker. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, the only one to reach coming via Nick Castellanos’ nine-pitch walk in the bottom of the second. The lefty may have had zero idea where his splitter was going – two of them hit the backstop on the fly – but his fastball was averaging 95 mph (up two mph from his season average) and his slider was inducing swings and misses.
"We were executing our pitches," Parker said. "We were making good quality, just keeping them off the barrel of the bat."
And then it all fell apart in the bottom of the fifth. Parker not only allowed his first hit of the game. He allowed his first run of the game. He allowed five runs on five hits before the inning was over. There were back-to-back RBI doubles by J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm. And then there was the big blast: a three-run homer by No. 8 hitter Sosa on a fastball that registered only 93 mph (more in line with Parker’s season average).
"He retired 10 of the first 11, and then all of a sudden there was a base hit," Cairo said. "It's kind of like, when they get on base, the inning speeds up. Something that he needs to work on is slowing down when things start happening like that. Slow down, make your pitches, execute like you've been doing."
Even after that prolonged inning, Cairo sent his starter back to the mound for the bottom of the fifth, trusting his struggling starter to face the top of the Phillies lineup a third time. That move immediately backfired when Trea Turner led off the inning with a homer to left off a slider.
Parker would manage to complete the inning without suffering any more damage, but plenty of damage had already been done. He was charged with six runs in five innings on a whopping 103 pitches, and that only made his season totals look worse.
Through 26 total starts in 2025, Parker now owns a gaudy 6.01 ERA. Only former Marlins Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, at 6.04, is worse among qualified major league starters. But it gets worse: Over his last 21 starts, Parker’s ERA is now 7.48. How bad is that? It’s the worst ERA by any pitcher in Nationals history over a span of 21 starts, easily surpassing Patrick Corbin’s 6.90 mark from the 2022 season.
"Every day I'm trying to improve on something," the lefty said. "It's one thing or another. It's an everyday battle."
Starting pitchers struggling to that extent rarely would get the opportunity to make 21 consecutive starts without some kind of change, whether having his turn skipped, his role shifted to the bullpen or even a demotion to the minors. But the Nationals do not appear to have given that serious consideration with Parker to this point, which is probably a reflection of the lack of viable alternatives at Triple-A Rochester than anything.
"We're trying to figure out here who can do the job," Cairo said. "We've got to figure out who can go out there and take an opportunity. The best opportunity is there. I want everybody to take advantage of that. Everyone is being evaluated."
When Parker gave up six runs to the Phillies five days ago, his teammates responded by scoring six runs off Aaron Nola. They could not duplicate the feat tonight, though they did at least put a bit of a dent into the veteran right-hander and get the game back within striking distance before he departed.
Shut out through four innings, the Nats started making things happen in the fifth. They were aided in a big way by Weston Wilson, who while playing first base on a night Bryce Harper was serving as DH bobbled Drew Millas’ chopper and then misfired in an attempt to still get lead runner Crews out at second. That two-base error put two runners in scoring position with nobody out. The Nationals got one of them home via House’s ground ball to short, but they stranded Millas on third when Nola struck out both Hassell and Wood.
There was one more surge in them, though, and it came in the form of a quick power surge in the top of the sixth. Abrams opened the inning with a 109-mph missile off the right field foul pole for his 17th homer of the season. Two batters later, García took Nola deep to center for his 10th homer of the season. And just like that, a 6-1 deficit was down to 6-3, putting some pressure on the Phillies' bullpen to close this one out.
"Even in games late that aren't as close, I see us fighting every at-bat," Hassell said. "We really want to finish the game on a good note. It's great to be around a bunch of guys that want to fight and not give up, want to fight to the last out. I think it's a great trait for this team to have."
