WASHINGTON (AP) — Pinch-hitter Daylen Lile hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Washington Nationals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Andrés Chaparro also homered for Washington, which won its fourth in a row for the first time since June 13-16.
Click to Gallery
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez throws during the third inning of a baseball game against Washington Nationals, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Derek Hill leaps up to make a catch on a fly ball by Washington Nationals' Dylan Crews for an out during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals pitcher Jackson Kent throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Kyle Schwarber hit his majors-leading 45th homer for Philadelphia, which has dropped four of five but continues to hold an NL wild-card spot.
With the game tied at 3-all, Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez (17-6) surrendered consecutive singles to open the seventh before Nasim Nuñez bunted both runners over. Philadelphia interim manager Don Mattingly summoned Jonathan Bowlan, and Lile hammered his first pitch to center for his first career pinch homer.
Sánchez allowed five runs and struck out five. He is 1-2 with a 6.87 ERA in three September starts, and his season ERA has risen from 2.52 to 2.93 since the start of the month.
Richard Lovelady (3-4) got the last out of the seventh and two in the eighth for Washington. Erik Tolman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
Schwarber lined Washington starter Jackson Kent’s slider into the Nationals’ bullpen in right to lead off the fifth inning. It is Schwarber’s fourth 45-homer season in five years with the Phillies, tying him with Ryan Howard (2006-09) for the most in franchise history.
Chaparro responded with a solo homer in the fifth off Sánchez.
The Phillies scored in the first inning on Alec Bohm’s RBI single. Yohandy Morales doubled in Washington’s first run in the first, then scored two batters later on Jorbit Vivas’ single.
Luis Arraez’s opposite-field double to left brought in Trea Turner to tie it in the third.
Kent allowed three runs and struck out four in five innings.
Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (12-5, 3.14 ERA) starts as the two-game series concludes Wednesday, while LHP Jared Simpson (1-0, 6.75) will open a bullpen game after the Nationals pushed RHP Cade Cavalli's next start to Friday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez throws during the third inning of a baseball game against Washington Nationals, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Derek Hill leaps up to make a catch on a fly ball by Washington Nationals' Dylan Crews for an out during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals pitcher Jackson Kent throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom told the Texas Rangers before the trade deadline that he wanted to stay and believed the team could make the playoffs.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner is doing his part down the stretch, even while pitching through mild groin tightness.
DeGrom struck out eight in five innings Tuesday night as the Rangers opened a series of playoff contenders with a 4-2 win over Boston to stay within a game of AL West-leading Houston with 11 games left. Texas (75-76) remained 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the third and final wild card.
“It's what you play this game for. You play to win and go to playoffs, and hopefully win a World Series,” deGrom said. “That’s what we talked about in the spring and set goals. And we’re right here in a playoff race.”
The 38-year-old right-hander (11-9) took his regular turn in the rotation five days after 12 strikeouts and no walks in six scoreless innings of one-hit ball at Seattle — a game Texas lost. That was also when he felt his groin tighten while covering first base on a grounder.
During his bullpen session between starts, deGrom said he threw only 10 fastballs, then added it might have been only nine.
“If it was April, May, that type of deal, I’m not sure I would push it,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He’s like, I’m ready, give me the ball and I’ll give you everything I have, and he’s doing that. I know he doesn’t feel 100%. He’s not even going to tell me that it’s probably worse than he’s even telling me.”
On his last pitch against the Red Sox, with the bases loaded in the fifth, deGrom got Adley Rutschman on an inning-ending groundout. Boston had two runners after the first two pitches of the inning, on a hit batter and catcher's interference, before a sacrifice bunt and then a two-out walk.
DeGrom retired the first seven batters he faced before Caleb Durbin's solid single in the third. No. 9 batter Nick Sogard followed with a liner over the wall in right field for a homer that got the Red Sox within 4-2, on a pitch deGrom felt went where he wanted it.
“I was like, all right, that’s all they get,” said deGrom, whose groin again tightened on him throwing a fastball in the second inning but didn't get any worse.
“I think it’ll be something we’ll be able to manage and get out there in five days,” he said.
Hours after the trade deadline on Aug. 3, the Rangers dropped a series opener at home to San Francisco. It was their season-high sixth loss in a row. They had just been swept in a three-game series at Houston, going from a half-game division lead to 2 1/2 games behind the Astros.
The Rangers then won four in a row, a streak capped by deGrom's nine strikeouts in five innings against Baltimore in his first start after the deadline, when at least one contending team had inquired about the availability of the pitcher with a full no-trade clause.
“He’s just setting an example to the entire team, just about how he’s going about it right now. Showing up, maybe not feeling 100%, but he’s going to give you his best effort every single time and doing it how he is doing it,” first baseman Jake Burger said. “It’s impressive, and I think that signals to the whole entire team.”
Texas hasn’t reached the playoffs since winning its only World Series title in 2023, which was deGrom’s first season after signing a $185 million, five-year contract in free agency — a deal that has a conditional option for 2028. The Rangers won all six of his starts by the end of that April before elbow surgery that kept him out until the final three games of the 2024 season.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom talks to home plate umpire Tripp Gibson during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws to the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
