September 28 – Stone Garrett made a strong return to the major leagues on Friday, hitting a double, driving in 3 runs and driving in 3 runs in the Washington Nationals’ 9–1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Garrett hasn’t played a big league game since breaking a bone in his foot in a game more than 13 months ago. He batted fifth as the designated hitter Friday and was the centerpiece of a 16-hit attack for the Nationals (70-90).
Juan Yepez, Jacob Young and Luis Garcia Jr. joined Garrett in having three hits for Washington, while Cabot Ruiz drove in three runs.
Austin Hayes homered for the Phillies (94-66), who ended all chances of chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers (96-64) for the top seed in the National League playoffs. Philadelphia held the tiebreaker after winning the season series with Los Angeles.
The Phillies managed just four hits against Trevor Williams (6-1) and four Nationals relievers. Williams gave up three hits — all singles — while allowing two runs and striking out five in five scoreless innings.
Washington dominated the first inning and took a four-run lead (12-8) in the first inning against the Rangers’ Suarez.
Dylan Cruz led off with a two-run single and then scored on Yepez’s one-out hit to center. Two batters later, Garrett hit a 3-2 curve ball over the left field wall to make it 3-0. However, the game wasn’t over for the hosts, as Garcia and Idamaro Vargas promptly reached base and added two steals to score on Young’s infield single.
The Nationals gave Sanchez another chance in the second inning. Crews started with a five-pitch walk, James Wood singled to center and then Yepez homered to put runners in scoring position. Ruiz then hit a two-run single to center to extend the lead to 6-0.
Suarez hasn’t pitched more than six innings since June 14 and only pitched two innings in this game. The left-hander gave up six runs, seven hits, two walk-offs and struck out two.
Garrett had an RBI single in the fourth inning, scored on a single, then had a double and scored in the seventh inning to help Washington cross the finish line.
——Visual-level media
