The Phillies clobbered their way to victory Saturday night, clubbing four homers en route to an 8-5 win. Nick Maton, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh all went deep, and Ranger Suárez was good-not-great over 6.2 innings. Saturday’s win sets up a potential sweep of the Nats for Sunday afternoon.
The Phils were in a hole early, as Suárez surrendered a two-run homer to 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses in the top of the third, but Bryce Harper even things up with a two-run bomb of his own in the bottom half of the frame. An RBI each from Edmundo Sosa and Brandon Marsh in the fourth made it 4-2 Phils, while Nick Maton lined another two-run dinger into the left field flower bed to make it a 6-2 game.
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Suárez surrendered two more in the seventh, but Kyle Schwarber mashed a titanic solo shot in the eighth to put the Phillies up 8-4. Connor Brogdon ran into trouble in the top of the ninth, giving up three hits and walking one, but held the Nats to only one run, giving the Phillies an 8-5 victory.
Brandon Marsh had the best night of his Phillies career, going 3-4 and falling a triple short of the cycle. It’s a fantastic sign for the 24-year-old center fielder, as he’s struggled to hit consistently in a Phillies uniform. With terrific speed and excellent defense, if he can unlock the offensive side of his game he’ll become a true force for the Phils.
They’ll look to finish off the three-game sweep of the Nats tomorrow afternoon when Aaron Nola faces off against veteran right-hander Aníbal Sánchez.