Nats falter late, lose in extras to get swept in Philly (updated)

A lot of things have to go right for the Nationals to win a ballgame right now. They need quality starting pitching and some timely hitting. And if they can't get the former, they need more of the latter.

And then even if they do all that and take a lead into the late innings, they still need their bullpen to finish it off.

That bullpen may be this team's biggest strength in this unusual season, but it's not perfect. And on a day when manager Davey Martinez got elite work out of the three less-experienced relievers he summoned to get him into the late innings, he didn't get it from the veterans entrusted to close out games.

After Will Harris and Daniel Hudson combined to give up the tying run in the eighth and the Nationals lineup failed to bring home the go-ahead run in either the top of the ninth or 10th, Sean Doolittle was done in by Major League Baseball's new extra-inning rule. Despite retiring both batters he pitched to in the bottom of the 10th, the lefty took a 6-5 loss when the Phillies did the bare minimum required to plate the winning run in their home ballpark.

"It's one of those losses where you scratch your head," Martinez said afterward in his Zoom session with reporters. "Just have to forget about it and come back tomorrow."

If only it was that simple. The Nationals (12-23) just suffered a four-game sweep in Philadelphia after dropping the final two games of last weekend's series in Boston. They now head to Atlanta for four games in three days against the first-place Braves, all as the clock on this short 2020 season starts to wind down.

"As I always say, losing sucks in general," shortstop Trea Turner said. "But for me, we did a lot of things great (today). So it's what we or you or whoever wants to focus on. Do you want to be positive or do you feel bad for yourself? I think we did a lot of things good. And if we play like we did tonight, I think we should win more often."

If they get into another extra-inning situation, the Nationals will have to hope for different results, even though much of it is out of their control.

With an automatic runner placed on second to begin the bottom of the 10th tonight, Doolittle watched as the Phillies bunted him to third. He then intentionally walked two more batters to load the bases and set up either a force out at the plate or a double play on a grounder up the middle. But rookie Alec Bohm managed to loft a fly ball to medium-deep center field, and Victor Robles' throw to the plate was late and a bit offline, letting J.T. Realmuto score the hard-luck winning run.

"Doo did a great job throwing a ball up and in," Martinez said. "And as soon as he hit it, I thought: If he goes, double play. That's the first reaction I had. (Robles) just threw the ball up the line. I think he got caught in between, where he didn't stay behind the ball. I thought he could've done a better job staying behind the ball and throwing through it. I think the ball was up there, and he just set his feet up too early and threw the ball off-line."

It was a particularly difficult way to lose what could've been an uplifting win at a time when the Nationals desperately needed one. They again got the bulk of their offensive production from Turner and Juan Soto, with Michael A. Taylor chiming in as well. And they got brilliant relief work from Wander Suero, Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey, who combined to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.

But a 5-4 lead wasn't enough to beat this Phillies lineup. Harris started the eighth and retired only one of three batters faced, leaving the bases loaded for Hudson. The veteran closer technically did his job: He retired both batters he faced, but Andrew McCutchen's grounder to short wasn't hit hard enough for the Nats to turn a double play, so the tying run crossed the plate and sent the game to the ninth knotted at 5-5.

Though he technically was charged with a blown save, Hudson ultimately retired all five batters he faced, retiring the side in the ninth.

"Me not doing my job tonight, I think, is the difference in the game," said Harris, who surrendered the only two hits by the Nationals bullpen in 6 1/3 total innings. "The guys that came in before and after me all threw the ball very well. In one-run games, usually one inning is the difference, and I think that was the difference today."

The first inning has been Aníbal Sánchez's undoing this season, so when the veteran right-hander looked like he was poised to retire the side on nine pitches today, there was a fleeting moment of hope this time would be different. But the inning didn't actually end on nine pitches, because Bryce Harper's seemingly innocuous popup into shallow center field found turf in between three defenders.

"Robles, it looked like he broke back at first," Martinez said. "And they were kind of looking at each other. Robles has got to come in hard and catch it. That's a tough play for an infielder."

It wasn't the first time Robles has failed to take charge on a ball hit in his general direction this season, but this might've been the costliest because it opened the floodgates to what became a two-run, 25-pitch inning for Sánchez. Neither run was earned because Brock Holt was charged with an error when he couldn't handle Gregorius' hot smash to his shifted position near second base, but it nonetheless put Sánchez behind the eight-ball once again.

Sánchez never did find his groove. He gave up a leadoff homer to Rhys Hoskins in the third and allowed another run to score thanks in part to his fumbling of Harper's bunt attempt. And after he walked Hoskins to load the bases with one out in the fourth, his day came to an abrupt halt.

In came Suero to face a dilly of a pickle: bases loaded, one out, Harper and J.T. Realmuto due up. As inconsistent as he can be, though, Suero's good days remain as good as they get. And this was an especially good day for the reliever, who struck out Harper and Realmuto in succession to maintain his perfect, 9-for-9 season at stranding inherited runners on base.

That kept the Nationals' deficit at 4-2, their two runs coming around to score in thrilling fashion in the top of the third when Turner drove a pitch from Zach Eflin deep to right-center and watched as the ball caromed off the wall and back toward left field, miles from any Phillies defender. The fastest runner in club history didn't even need to run that fast around the bases before sliding across the plate with the third inside-the-park homer of his career.

Turner played a role in the Nationals' game-tying rally in the fifth, a rally that was almost perfectly designed by Martinez. Trying to find a way to get Turner and Soto more opportunities with runners in scoring position, he decided to move the slumping Adam Eaton into the leadoff spot for the first time this year.

The real key to the fifth-inning rally, though, was the back-to-back singles by the two guys at the bottom of the lineup: Luis García and Robles. That opened the door for Eaton to put down a bunt and move both runners up (Eaton would later have to leave the game after jamming his knee on first base, according to Martinez).

Turner didn't record a hit, but his grounder to short brought home one run. And when Soto, who could've been intentionally walked with first base open, lined another single to center, the game was tied and he and Turner had now combined for nine of the Nats' 10 runs in the series up to that moment.

And when Taylor, taking his first at-bat after replacing Eaton, belted his fourth homer of the season deep to left in the seventh, the Nationals finally had themselves a lead. Now they just needed their bullpen to close out a one-run lead to depart Philadelphia with a desperately needed win.

That proved easier said than done.