Phillies rally off Nats closer Hand, collect 5-2 win in 10th

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied and then took the lead against struggling Washington closer Brad Hand, beating the Nationals 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Philadelphia, which has taken seven of its last nine, won consecutive road games for the first time this season. Washington dropped its fourth in a row and seventh of eight to sink a season-worst six games below .500.

Hand (2-2), who blew a save Saturday against the New York Yankees and then suffered the loss the next afternoon in the Bronx, was staked to a 2-1 lead in the ninth. He quickly gave it back on Odúbel Herrera’s one-out home run.

Hand allowed a leadoff single to Bryce Harper in the 10th, moving automatic runner Andrew McCutchen to third. Kyle Finnegan entered and promptly surrendered Hoskins’ RBI single. Nick Maton and Andrew Knapp added run-scoring singles later in the inning.

José Alvarado (3-0) pitched a scoreless ninth, and Héctor Neris worked a perfect 10th for his seventh save.

Tied 1-all in the sixth, Alex Avila lofted a fly to the warning track in right-center. Harper struggled to get his bearings tracking it while Herrera scampered over. The ball fell between the two outfielders, who then ran into each other in a belated attempt to salvage an out.

Washington fans, who have booed Harper at every opportunity since the 2015 NL MVP left the Nationals to sign a 13-year, $330 million deal with Philadelphia in 2019, savored the moment as Harper tumbled to the warning track and Avila wound up with a triple that scored Starlin Castro.

Castro went 4 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

The two-run rally in the sixth ended Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler’s 20-inning scoreless streak. Wheeler surrendered two runs over six...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Phillies-rally-off-Nats-closer-Hand-collect-5-2-16173143.php