Kids show off power, but Nats lose third straight (updated)

The Nationals and Phillies existed, for four months, in roughly the same neighborhood. Both star-laden teams struggled to get on any kind of a roll but kept themselves within close enough striking distance of the Mets to believe they might still have a shot at winning an exceptionally weak National League East this season.

But then the Nats cratered over the final two weeks of July and decided to hold a fire sale, trading away nearly every veteran on their roster in an attempt to retool for the long term. The Phillies, meanwhile, decided to stick with it, hope things would begin to fall into place and hope the Mets truly were vulnerable.

So what transpired over the last three days probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The still-in-it Phillies have won three straight over the not-in-it-anymore Nationals, including tonight's 9-5 victory on South Capitol Street, and truly are breathing down the Mets' necks now.

Philadelphia entered the day 1 1/2 games back in the division. New York managed to win in Miami, so the deficit remains the same, but the race is far from over.

The Nationals? They've somehow remained on the fringes of contention despite having now lost 21 of their last 30, a reflection of the Mets' inability to put this thing away than anything else.

The focus around here, though, has already changed. It's not about game results anymore but about individual performances, especially from the young core of players now being tasked with leading the franchise into its next era of success.

So in some regards, there were still plenty of positives from tonight's game, which saw three young Nationals combine to hit four homers.

"It's encouraging to see these guys," manager Davey Martinez said in his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "They're getting an opportunity to play, and they're making the best of it right now."

Victor Robles, finally given a chance to lead off, ambushed Chase Anderson's very first pitch of the first inning and blasted it to left field for only his second homer of the season. One inning later, Luis García and Carter Kieboom went deep on consecutive pitches to give the Nats a three-run lead.

And five innings later, García would do it again, taking lefty Matt Moore deep to left for his second homer of the night and third since the trade deadline.

"It is a very good sign," García said of his opposite-field homer off a left-hander, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "It's something I worked on a lot this offseason, trying to get more acclimated to facing lefties. Seeing how my work I put in this offseason is starting to show, I'm very excited about that."

If ever there was reason for the organization to puff out its collective chest and point to the youth movement that's now underway, this was it.

"They're giving an opportunity to young players now," Robles said, "and we need to do this, to take advantage of the opportunities."

Alas, the early 3-0 lead lasted all of about 15 minutes after the Phillies figured out Paolo Espino. And boy, did they figure him out. Shut down for two innings, they flipped the switch in the top of the third and wound up with five rockets off him in the span of six batters, the lone exception a sacrifice bunt by Anderson.

Andrew Knapp doubled. Travis Jankowski doubled. Jean Segura doubled. Bryce Harper singled. And Rhys Hoskins doubled to complete the four-run rally and thus ensure the biggest offensive output anyone has produced against Espino this year. The 34-year-old journeyman had yet to surrender more than three runs in any of his 24 outings this season, as a starter or reliever.

And it only got worse. When Hoskins launched a two-run homer over the left field bullpen in the top of the fifth, the Phillies had themselves six runs and Espino had his worst pitching line of 2021.

"If you don't pitch the way you're supposed to, you're going to get punished," said Espino, who blamed too many pitches up in the zone for his struggles tonight. "I definitely didn't pitch the way I normally pitch. I made a lot of mistakes today, and it paid."

The lead would be expanded later with tack-on runs off Jefry Rodriguez and Javy Guerra. And as this all happened, 3,000 miles away Max Scherzer took the mound at Dodger Stadium wearing a blue "LA" cap for the first time, another painful reminder of how much has changed around here in the last week.

Anyone who needs some cheering up, though, need only watch those four solo homers by the three young future regulars and hope there are many more of those to come. In more meaningful games.

"It's very exciting and motivating," García said. "I'm trying to learn from each individual. Every day, you can pick up something from everybody. And I think we're all motivated to learn from each other."