Nothing separated the teams for six innings. Then the seventh happened, and the Phillies turned a three-run deficit into a lead they would not give back. Philadelphia beat Washington 6-3 at Citizens Bank Park behind a four-run seventh and a two-run eighth that buried a game the Nationals had controlled early.

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Derek Hill delivered the decisive blow, going 1-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBI. His homer in the seventh scored De La Cruz, Stott and Sosa ahead of him, turning a 3-0 hole into a 4-3 lead in one swing. Bryce Harper followed an inning later with his own homer to center, driving in Crawford and pushing the margin to 6-3.

Washington built its lead early. Ortiz homered to right in the first to make it 1-0, and Lile followed in the second with a two-run shot to right center that scored Ruiz, extending the advantage to 3-0. That held up until the seventh, when Hill's grand slam-style blast flipped the game. Hill's homer marked the go-ahead swing, and Harper's follow-up in the eighth added to the margin.

Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez kept Washington in position for most of the night, working 6.1 innings and allowing 2 runs on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts. But the bullpen unraveled behind him. Tom Cosgrove was charged with the loss after allowing 2 runs on 1 hit in just 0.2 innings, and Washington's relievers combined for 4 runs over 1.2 innings. Aaron Nola started for Philadelphia and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits across 6.0 innings, but the offense and bullpen bailed him out. Kyle Backhus picked up the win with a scoreless inning, and Jhoan Duran closed it with a scoreless ninth for his 25th save.

The win extended Philadelphia's winning streak to three games, improving the Phillies to 60-53. Washington fell to 55-59, its sixth straight loss. Nola finished the night sitting at 1,997 career strikeouts, three shy of the 2,000 milestone.

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