Philadelphia Phillies vs Washington Nationals Box Score on Sep 08, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Sep 8, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Michael A. Taylor had an inside-the-park grand slam and ended up with four hits and a career-high five RBIs and Trea Turner had three hits and three RBIs as the Washington Nationals moved closer to the National League East title with an 11-10 win over the Philadelphia Phillies Friday.

Taylor also threw out Nick Williams (four hits) at the plate from center field in the seventh to keep the score at 10-7. Taylor, who fell a double short of the cycle, then had an RBI triple in the eighth to make it 11-7.

Maikel Franco ripped a three-run homer in the ninth off Shawn Kelley to pull the Phillies to within 11-10. Sean Doolittle came in to get the last three outs for his 17th save with the Nationals.

The first-place Nationals (87-54) won their fifth game in a row and reduced their magic number to three. The Phillies (53-88) have the worst record in the majors.

Washington's Max Scherzer (14-5) gave up six hits and four runs with three walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. Jake Thompson (1-2) allowed seven runs and seven hits in five innings.

Turner hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Yacksel Rios for a 9-4 advantage and Ryan Zimmerman (two hits) had an RBI single to make it 10-4.

Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins hit a three-run homer off Oliver Perez in the seventh to trim the lead to 10-7. It was the 13th homer in 29 games for Hoskins.

Odubel Herrera extended his hitting streak to 21 games with an infield single in the seventh. J.P. Crawford had an RBI double in the sixth to make it 7-4.

There was plenty of excitement early on as the Nationals scored in each of the first four innings.

Taylor, who was batting with the bases loaded in the third, lined a ball over the head of Herrera in center field. The ball rolled all the way to the warning track and Taylor beat the relay to the plate for an inside-the-park grand slam and a 6-3 lead.

It was a career-high 15th homer of the year for Taylor and the first inside-the-park grand slam in Montreal/Washington franchise history since Bombo Rivera accomplished the feat in 1976. It was the first inside-the-park grand slam in the majors since Aaron Altherr of the Phillies did so at Nationals Park in 2015 against Washington.

The Nationals made it 7-3 in the fourth as Turner scored on a double play grounder.

Taylor helped alleviate a poor start for Scherzer, who went just five innings in his previous outing in Milwaukee on Saturday after he was hit in the calf on a liner by Travis Shaw.

Scherzer allowed Williams' three-run homer to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. It was the 10th homer of the year for Williams.

Zimmerman and Turner hit RBI singles to make it a one-run game in the second.

NOTES: Washington 1B Ryan Zimmerman was recognized before the game as the Nationals Roberto Clemente Award nominee for this season. ... Washington OF Jayson Werth missed his second game in a row as he deals with a sore shoulder, according to manager Dusty Baker. ... Phillies INF J.P. Crawford had his first MLB extra-base hit and RBI with his double. ... INF Adrian Sanchez was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse by the Nationals before the game.