PHILADELPHIA -- The Nationals were 3-70 when trailing after the eighth inning. Phillies closer Jhoan Duran had not allowed a run since he was acquired by the NL East leaders last month.
That didn’t matter to a hungry Nats team deep with rookies playing in front of an energized, sold-out Citizens Bank Park crowd for the first time.
The Nationals fought back from a one-run deficit in the ninth inning to score two runs off Duran and take a 5-4 victory on Friday night.
They have won five of their last eight games, having only faced the Phillies and Mets since Aug. 14.
“They’re resilient,” said interim manager Miguel Cairo. “They come in every day to play to win. … To take the crowd out of the game, they want to stick in the big leagues. That’s what they’re telling you.”
Dylan Crews got things started with a one-out 103.2 mph double into right field. He had faced Duran on Sunday during a ninth-inning rally -- only then Duran got Crews to ground out to shortstop in a nine-pitch battle. Crews had soaked up the intensity of that matchup, and he delivered in their next meeting off a 101.9 mph four-seamer.
“Everybody knows he’s one of the best closers in the world,” said Crews, 23. “... At the end of the day, you’ve just got to stay on the fastball. We were able to string some hits there and come back.”
After swinging and missing on a blazing 100.9 mph first-pitch fastball from Duran, Daylen Lile connected on a 97.2 mph splitter into left field. Third-base coach Ricky Gutierrez waved a sprinting Crews home, and he beat the throw from Brandon Marsh for the game-tying run. Lile advanced to second base when the ball got away from catcher J.T. Realmuto.
"They just put the ball in play,” said Realmuto. “They're a scrappy lineup. They're hard to strike out, and they found holes. He's obviously a dominant pitcher, but they were able to barrel him up more than most, so you've got to tip your cap to them."
The speedy Lile, who was the designated hitter on Friday, was in position to do late-game damage. He stole third base in the next at-bat in the ninth. The errant throw by Realmuto buzzed past Alec Bohm and into left field, allowing Lile to score the go-ahead run.
“It got real quiet, let me tell you,” said Lile, 22. “I was hearing it the whole game in the dugout. But for everybody to boo me when I’m going up to the plate and then be quiet when I cross home plate, it was awesome.”
With closer Jose A. Ferrer and high-leverage reliever Cole Henry unavailable because of recent usage, the Nationals sent eighth-inning pitcher PJ Poulin back out for the ninth.
Poulin, who made his Major League debut on Aug. 5 at age 29, suddenly found himself facing Bryson Stott, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber in his first career win situation. The rookie lefty tapped into his breathwork and retired the side in front of 44,757 fans.
“This has been the best few weeks of my life,” said Poulin, adding, “Pure joy. I'm a competitive guy. … It felt really good to get that final out.”
Before the game, Cairo had a goal for the young Nationals team as they stepped into Citizens Bank Park.
“You’ve got to embrace that energy,” Cairo said. “You want to enjoy it, you want to live the moment. Hopefully they can boo us. That means that we’re doing good.”
The cheers, the jeers, the full scope of the environment resonated with the Nats -- who are aiming to build toward a future that extends into October.
“This is what playoff baseball’s all about,” said Crews. “If we want to get to where we want to get to, we have to play in environments like this. We have to play our style of baseball and stay focused and take it one pitch at a time.”