Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies

Schwarber homers twice to reach 30, Phillies top Nationals 8-4 in first game of doubleheader

Schwarber has kept going deep from the top of the order, even as his batting average has hovered under .200 for most of the season. But when the lefty connects, look out. There’s a reason his homers are known as Schwarbombs.

Schwarber hit a two-run shot off Nationals starter Trevor Williams (5-7) in the third and Alec Bohm made it back-to-back homers with his 12th of the year that tied the game at 3-all.

His 29th homer was a modest — by his standards — 363 feet.

No. 30 soared into the second deck, a no-doubt-about-it 447-foot three-run blast off Williams in the fourth. Jake Cave kept the homer-happy Phillies rolling with a two-run homer in the sixth that broke the game open.

Schwarber has reached the 30-homer mark five times in his career and the reigning NL home run champion became the first Phillie to hit 30 in consecutive years since Ryan Howard did it from 2006-2011.

Philadelphia, which won its third straight, entered the game battling with San Francisco for the top NL wild card. The Phillies had played one fewer game than the Giants because of Monday’s rainout that forced the doubleheader.

Zack Wheeler (9-5) settled down after allowing early homers to Lane Thomas and Keibert Ruiz. Wheeler struck out six and walked none over six innings. He had allowed 11 runs over 8 2/3 innings in his first two starts against the Nationals this season.

“I just changed up some stuff that I was doing,” Wheeler said. “They thought I might have been tipping (pitches). They've been hitting me well this year. Just felt like it was time to change a little bit.”

Williams gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings as the Nationals' four-game winning streak ended.

The Phillies sent left-hander Ranger Suarez (2-5, 4.01 ERA) to the mound in the second game of the twinbill against All-Star Josiah Gray (7-9, 3.54).

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

First base umpire Lew Williams went 0-for-3 on challenged calls.

He had one call against the Nationals overturned by replay and then blew two calls on Phillies baserunner Nick Castellanos in the third.

Castellanos was called out at first base on a long throw from third by Vargas. The Phillies challenged and the replay showed Castellanos beat the throw. He was called safe after a review.

His time at first almost didn’t last long. Williams again called Castellanos out on Williams’ pickoff attempt. Again, the Phillies challenged; again, replay showed he was safe. Castellanos got his hand on the bag and escaped the tag.

HARPER FANS

Phillies slugger Bryce Harper struck out three times.

UP NEXT

The Nationals send LHP MacKenzie Gore (6-8, 4.34 ERA) to the mound Wednesday against Phillies RHP Michael Lorenzen (6-7, 3.48 ERA).

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies?

• TV Channel: Nationals at Phillies 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
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