Nats lose battle of bullpens to Phillies after rain delay (updated)

Rarely do we think of D.C.'s summer weather as an advantage for the Nationals, who lament the heat, humidity and evening thunderstorms as much as any commuter from Fairfax or Silver Spring.

But when a storm rolled through South Capitol Street at the end of the fifth inning tonight, it felt appropriate to wonder if the Nats might actually benefit from the situation. When play resumed, the Phillies were probably going to have to pull starter Jake Arrieta, even though he had cruised through five innings on 54 pitches, and turn the rest of the game over to their worst-in-baseball bullpen.

The Nationals, meanwhile, had no qualms about going to their 'pen at that point, hoping the club's surprising strength of the last month could keep a three-run deficit intact and give the lineup a chance to rally.

It made sense on paper. In reality, it didn't go according to plan.

The Nats bullpen, not the Phillies, had trouble posting zeros on the scoreboard. And so the lead only increased for the visitors, who walked away with an 8-3 victory to overtake their rivals for fourth place in the five-team National League East.

"We were hoping to keep it close," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "We thought their bullpen, the way they've been struggling, we could come back. Today was just no timely hitting."

Though they trimmed the deficit to two when Adam Eaton homered into the second deck off Heath Hembree in the sixth, the Nationals didn't score again until the ninth against a Philadelphia bullpen that entered the proceedings with an 8.00 ERA that even last year's Nats relief corps would've considered high.

They got a major defensive boost from Victor Robles, whose sixth-inning circus catch at the warning track in center field and 288-foot throw to first base to complete a remarkable double play will be shown on highlight reels for months.

"It was extraordinary," Robles admitted via interpreter Octavio Martinez, giving credit to Eaton and Juan Soto for helping him adjust his route as he tried to track down the deep drive.

But this loss once again was pinned on a lineup that has not been able to find any semblance of consistency through 27 games.

Aside from solo homers by Eaton and Trea Turner, the Nationals did little at the plate tonight. And when they did try to get something going, they were done in by four double-play grounders, two by struggling rookie Carter Kieboom.

The Nats bullpen, meanwhile, surrendered four runs in four innings, with Wander Suero, Tanner Rainey and Kyle Finnegan all suffering the damage. (The two runs Finnegan allowed in the eighth were his first in 11 big league appearances).

The lack of fans in attendance, perhaps more than any previous game other than opening night, was painfully noticeable tonight, with no Phillies fans to join the proceedings and no Nationals fans to jeer the opposing right fielder. We can all only imagine what the crowd response to Bryce Harper's first at-bat, and the inning-ending double play he grounded into, would've been from a full house.

And we can only imagine the roar that would've greeted Turner when he blasted Arrieta's third pitch of the game to center field for his sixth homer in his team's 27th game of the season. Extrapolate that out over a full 162-game slate and Turner would finish with 36 longballs.

That proved to be the emotional highlight of the first half of the game for the home team, though. Arrieta settled in and kept the Nationals from scoring again through the fifth, aided in part by three inning-ending double plays, two on first-pitch swings by Kieboom.

It's been a rough first half to this abbreviated season for Kieboom, but the one thing the rookie has shown is patience at the plate, leading to a team-high 11 walks in only 60 plate appearances entering this series. Those two quick double play on a total of two pitches seen were especially agonizing for a Nats lineup that has struggled to find offensive consistency.

"We want him to be aggressive in the strike zone," Martinez said. "I don't know where those pitches were, and I know Arrieta throws a heavy sinker. But ... if they were strikes, we want him to be aggressive. We also want him to hit the ball when he's up there like that. Get ready and hit the ball hard somewhere."

Also frustrating: The Nationals' defense, which has left plenty to be desired through 27 games. And that was particularly evident in the top of the third tonight, when a deep drive to right changed the fortunes of this contest.

With two out and two on, Fedde left a pitch up in the zone to J.T. Realmuto, who drove the ball to right. Eaton, who rarely has looked comfortable in the field this season, tentatively backtracked to the wall and attempted to make a leaping catch. But his awkward leap was both short and off-target, not especially close to the spot on the front ledge of the fence where the ball landed.

It may not have mattered in the end, because the ball bounced straight up and over the fence, leaving Eaton slamming his glove in frustration as Realmuto circled the bases on the three-run homer that gave the Phillies a 4-1 lead.

"Off the bat, I was like: 'OK, we're out of the inning,' " Fedde said. "I think even Realmuto thought that, too. I talked to the guys out in the bullpen, and they said the winds were swirling pretty good out there. It just kind of carried out. Tough play for anybody. Just really unfortunate, but I've got to live with it."

A short while later, there was potentially some salvation from the skies. An intense line of storms that brought heavy rain and fierce winds rolled through and sent the teams scurrying to their respective clubhouses and the grounds crew to get to work. (Don't worry: They successfully rolled out the tarp with no incidents.)

The rain only lasted 30 minutes or so, the delay 1 hour, 12 minutes. And that was just long enough for both managers to decide not to put their starting pitcher back on the mound.

The way things have gone this season, that seemed to favor the Nationals. That's not the way it turned out. A team that became known for mounting late rallies en route to a championship last year has yet to come from behind in the seventh inning or later once this year.

"I think that's probably one of the hardest things to do in the game, to come from behind," Turner said. "Usually when the other team's ahead, they throw their better pitchers, their better bullpen arms. ... It's hard to get that momentum that you're used to having with the crowd at home or playing on the road. It is what it is. I would rather just be in the lead and win the game as opposed to trying to come from behind."