Joey Meneses takes Craig Kimbrel deep in ninth, Nationals split doubleheader with Phillies

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This article was published 08/08/2023 (1151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joey Meneses went deep once to tie the game, the second time to win it for the Nationals. That he hit the game-winner against All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel seemed implausible to the first baseman.

“He’s the best closer in baseball for a lot of years,” Meneses said. “I don’t believe that I hit a homer off him.”

Meneses’ second homer of the game was a solo shot off Kimbrel in the ninth inning that gave the Washington Nationals a 5-4 win over Philadelphia and a doubleheader split Tuesday night.

“Anything can happen in this ballpark. Just got to try and get the ball in the air,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.

Kyle Schwarber homered twice to reach 30 for the season, drove in five runs and led the Phillies to an 8-4 win in the opener. The teams combined for 10 homers in the twinbill.

Meneses, a former Phillies minor leaguer, went deep twice against the bullpen. He hit a two-run shot off reliever Jeff Hoffman in the seventh that tied the game at 4-all. He connected off Kimbrel (6-3) for his 11th homer of the season.

“I made one bad pitch,” Kimbrel said. “I think that’s probably why I’m so frustrated right now. I physically feel great today. I feel like my stuff is great. Just made a bad pitch and they made us pay for it.”

Bryce Harper, who struck out three times in the opener, hit a two-run homer, and Trea Turner continued his recent resurgence with two hits and an RBI that staked the Phillies to a 4-2 lead into the seventh.

Turner turned his attention from billboards — where he thanked Phillies fans for their support in a rough first season — to the scoreboard. Batting fourth in the night game after a recent demotion to eighth, Turner opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first. He hustled out of the box and legged out an infield single in the fifth, stole second and scored on Bryson Stott’s RBI single to right for a 4-2 lead.

Turner, in the first season of a $300 million, 11-year contract, has doubled in four straight games for the fifth time in his career.

Turner might be getting warm at the right time. So is Harper, as the Phillies chase the top spot in the NL wild-card race. Harper smacked a two-run shot — his seventh, and second in three games — off starter Josiah Gray into the right-field seats for a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

“We’ve got to make sure we keep these guys healthy, keep them rested,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

Ildemaro Vargas hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Phillies starter Ranger Suarez.

Jordan Weems (3-0) tossed a scoreless eighth and Kyle Finnegan worked the ninth for his 18th save, fanning Harper to end it.

FIRST GAME

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.

Schwarber’s 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.

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.”

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

First base umpire Lew Williams went 0-for-3 in the opener 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 a pickoff attempt. Again, the Phillies challenged; again, replay showed he was safe. Castellanos got his hand on the bag and escaped the tag.

UP NEXT

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

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb