The Philadelphia Phillies won their sixth straight game on Thursday.
They were being shut out and trailed by six runs going into the sixth inning, when they promptly put up three runs and then another four in the eighth to win 7-6. In doing so, they completed a three-game sweep of the Nationals after taking three of four from the Diamondbacks over the weekend.
The Phillies are now 1.5 games out of first and have an 11-game win streak against division-rival teams and weekend plans with the Miami Marlins.
There were quite a few memorable moments from this series, but what you might not know is that they made history in a variety of ways, both as a team and on an individual level.
The Phillies set an MLB record by winning their seventh game against the Nationals in which they trailed by three or more runs
From my friends at @StatsBySTATS
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) September 2, 2021
The #Phillies have now won 7 games against the #Nationals this year in which they once trailed by at least 3 runs.
How many other teams in the modern era have ever won 7+ games like that vs. any team?
Yep. None. The old record was 6.
This one is kind of embarrassing for everyone involved, but a record is a record. It’s definitely the most Phillies way to set an MLB record.
On the one hand, it’s not great that the Phillies fell behind by six runs in another terrible start for Aaron Nola, who has only managed one scoreless start since June 25. Nor is it good that they couldn’t score a single run in the first five innings against Paolo Espino, who had a 4.13 ERA this season coming into Thursday’s start, and had never thrown more than 24 innings in a season before this year.
On the other hand, the Washington Nationals are having a terrible season. They’re 55-77, 15 games out of first, and were big-time sellers at the deadline. They sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers, and in doing so, helped them regain first place in the NL West for the first time since April. As the Nationals are operating with what is essentially a skeleton crew and Juan Soto, beating them isn’t exactly a postseason-caliber feat, but as I said, a record is a record.
Thus concludes the season series against the Nats, and the Phillies took it 13-6.