Although the Nats only managed a 2-2 split with the NL East-leading Phillies at home, this was one of their best series in a long time - certainly one of their best four-game series in what seems like ages. They were in all four of the games until the end, even yesterday afternoon when it appeared early on that the Phils would run away with the final game. Perhaps the most impressive team performance (bullpen aside) came on Friday, a game which the Nats lost 6-2 thanks to a seventh-inning bullpen meltdown (Clayton Beeter walking a pair of pinch-hitters in the #8 and #9 spot before ceding the hill to Konnor Pilkington, who induced an infield pop-up out of Trea Turner before getting nuked by a 456-foot Schwarbomb and a Bryce Harper solo shot), but also a game in which starter MacKenzie Gore battled back from a rough first inning to throw a quality start and one in which the Nats’ hitters ground out several tough at-bats against possible NL Cy Young Zack Wheeler to get him out of the game after five frames.

Yesterday’s Roku Game of the Week did not look like it was going to be a fun one for Nationals fans when Miguel Cairo was strolling to the mound in the top of the second inning to take the ball from Mitchell Parker immediately after Alec Bohm deposited a three-run bomb in the Phillies’ bullpen to make the score 6-0. But the Nats got a little life an inning later when Crews gunned down Harrison Bader trying to score from second base on a Turner single, a play which ended the inning. The Nats came to the plate against Aaron Nola in their half of the frame and went strikeout, single, single, RBI single, walk, 2-RBI single, 2-RBI double, RBI double to chase Nola and tie the game. Alas, Orlando Ribalta gave up a two-run single to Weston Wilson in the top of the fourth, and the Phillies added three more runs throughout the game to lead 11-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. Again the Nats put together a rally, getting two men on base in front of Paul DeJong’s sixth homer, followed by a double to bring the tying run to the batter’s box. Unfortunately, Jhoan Duran proved to be recovered from the shot to the ankle he took on Friday night, striking out pinch hitter Wood with a 102-mph fastball to salvage the split for the Phillies.

The other most impressive Nats performance of the weekend was Cade Cavalli’s Saturday afternoon, in which he tossed seven shutout innings on 90 pitches with 5 strikeouts, 7 hits, and no walks in a 2-0 Nationals win. Cavalli threw 63 of those 90 pitches for strikes, and although he had traffic in each of the first five innings, he locked in and shut the dangerous Philly lineup down in the biggest moments, beginning with a 100-mph whiff of Harper to end the top of the first. Cavalli was followed by Jose A. Ferrer, who pitched two scoreless innings of his own for his second career save (the win was Cavalli’s first). Even better, the two runs were scored by Dylan Crews and Brady House on a James Wood double.

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