Phillies' offense stuck in neutral in 4-1 rain-delayed loss to Nationals

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jun 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — Every time the Phillies seemed like they generated any sort of spark against Foster Griffin and the Washington Nationals, it was quickly snuffed out.

When Rafael Marchán singled to lead off the third inning, the next three batters hit into outs. When Derek Hill successfully stretched a double to lead off the fifth, the Phillies failed to advance him past third. And when the Nationals committed two fielding errors, the Phillies didn’t capitalize.

Even when Brandon Marsh homered off Griffin in the seventh — snapping an individual 0-for-14 skid against lefties — to finally put the Phillies on the board, the rest of the offense didn’t ignite. The next two batters struck out swinging to end the inning, accounting for 2-of-12 total strikeouts the Phillies recorded in the 4-1 rain-delayed loss to the Nationals on Monday.

First pitch was delayed for 1 hour and 32 minutes, but the Nationals didn’t waste any time. They jumped out early against Tim Mayza, who opened the game for Alan Rangel. James Wood ambushed the lefty for a leadoff double in the first, and was driven home by a Dylan Crews single to put Washington on the board.

Luis Garcia Jr. homered off Rangel after he took over in the second, but that was the only earned run he allowed over five total innings.

After Marsh’s homer cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the seventh, the Nationals responded right back. Curtis Mead — a former Phillies prospect whom they traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019 for Cristopher Sánchez — hit a two-run homer off Seth Johnson in the bottom of the inning.

The Phillies offense didn’t fare any better against the Nationals bullpen when Griffin exited after 7 1/3 innings. Bryce Harper hit a leadoff single off Clayton Beeter in the ninth inning, but Alec Bohm immediately grounded into a double play and Justin Crawford struck out to end it.