Spencer Howard Earns 1st Win, Phillies Beat Nationals 8-6
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Spencer Howard threw five effective innings, Rhys Hoskins homered and drove in three runs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 8-6 Monday night.
Juan Soto hit a pair of two-run homers and Michael Taylor and Trea Turner also went deep for the defending World Series champions, who fell to 12-20.
Howard (1-1) allowed two runs and five hits, striking out four to earn his first major league win in his fourth start.
The Phillies are 15-15 at the midpoint of the pandemic-shortened season after winning six of seven.
Nationals starter Erick Fedde (1-3) gave up six runs and four hits in six innings.
Hoskins drove one out to left field in the first for a 1-0 lead. He has hit all six of his homers in the last 13 games.
After the Nationals closed within two, Hoskins ripped a two-run double with two outs in the seventh off Wander Suero to extend Philadelphia's lead to 8-4.
Jay Bruce connected in the second for a 2-0 lead. He has 17 homers in 201 at-bats since the Phillies acquired him from Seattle last June.
Jean Segura lined a three-run double to left-center in the fourth and scored on Alec Bohm's sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.
Soto slammed his 10th homer in the fifth, an opposite-field drive that cut it to 6-2. Taylor and Turner hit consecutive homers off Heath Hembree in the seventh to get Washington to 4-2. Turner has a 16-game hitting streak.
The Phillies needed four innings from their revamped bullpen, which saw its majors-worst ERA rise to 7.09. JoJo Romero retired all four batters he faced before giving way to Hembree. Tommy Hunter got four outs and Brandon Workman finished, giving up Soto's 11th homer with one out in the ninth.
MAKING MOVES
Philadelphia acquired right-hander David Phelps from the Milwaukee Brewers before Monday's trade deadline for three players to be named. Phelps is the fourth reliever the team acquired in a trade in 10 days. Catcher Deivy Grullón and right-hander Reggie McClain were designated for assignment to make room on the roster.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: Bruce and LHP Ranger Suarez were activated from the injured list. INF/OF Scott Kingery was placed on the 10-day injured list with back spasms.
UP NEXT
LHP Patrick Corbin (2-2, 3.82 ERA) starts for the Nationals and RHP Aaron Nola (3-2, 3.00) goes for the Phillies on Tuesday night.
