Travel-weary Phillies lose series opener against Nationals, 3-2, despite recording 10 hits

WASHINGTON — At 8:37 p.m. Wednesday, Nick Castellanos flied out to right field to punctuate the Phillies’ 8-0 loss in a rain-delayed series finale against the Reds.

Six hours later, they were still on a runway in Cincinnati.

“I fell asleep on the plane … twice … while we were on the tarmac,” manager Rob Thomson said. “And I thought we had landed in D.C.”

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No such luck. The Phillies didn’t touch down in Washington until 2 p.m. Thursday — less than five hours before first pitch — and only after a late-night scramble for hotel rooms, a mechanical issue with their Delta charter turning a 90-minute flight into an all-night odyssey.

And when they finally did arrive at Nationals Park, a late-afternoon thunderstorm prevented them from doing much pregame work on the field.

“We should’ve just slept in,” one player cracked.

Say this, though, for the travel-weary Phillies: They didn’t sleepwalk to a 3-2 loss to the last-place Nationals. On the contrary, they generated energy from six solid innings from starter Jesús Luzardo and 10 hits, their highest output in a game since last Friday.

The problem: Only two went for extra bases and just one came with a runner in scoring position.

“To be in the game was a good thing today, just based on last night and the adversity that we had to deal with,” said Trea Turner, who legged out three infield hits. “I wish we could have pulled it out, but the effort was there, which was nice. Could easily kind of quit and laid down.”

So, the Phillies (69-52) dropped their third consecutive game after winning four in a row and eight of 10. But in the unlikely event that they needed help falling asleep, they maintained their five-game lead in the National League East because the Mets fumbled a one-run lead in the eighth inning of a 4-3 loss, New York’s 13th defeat in 15 games.

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Luzardo took a 2-1 lead out for the seventh inning, having mostly overpowered the Nationals with a one-two punch of fastball-sweeper. But he loaded the bases on a double sandwiched between two walks before yielding to the bullpen.

“The hit happens, but the walks are what rubs me the wrong way about the outing,” Luzardo said. “Besides that, the first six [innings] were great. I felt really good going into the seventh. Just frustrated the way it ended.”

Thomson had regrets about the seventh inning, too. After Luzardo issued the leadoff walk to Paul DeJong, Thomson called down to the bullpen to get Orion Kerkering ready for righty-hitting Brady House, the fourth batter of the inning.

“In hindsight,” Thomson said, “I should’ve had him ready for [Riley] Adams.”

But Thomson also noted that Luzardo retired Adams twice earlier in the game. And the Phillies tend to stick with their starters longer than most teams, a testament to the quality of the rotation. At 89 pitches, Luzardo still had life on his fastball and was in command of the game.

So, the Phillies stuck with Luzardo, who gave up a double to Adams that moved DeJong to third base before losing a seven-pitch duel with Daylen Lile for a bases-loading walk.

Thomson finally went to the bullpen. After recording one out, Kerkering fell behind in the count to José Tena and allowed a go-ahead two-run single past a diving Turner through the left side of the infield.

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The Phillies tried to rally in the ninth inning with a leadoff single from Max Kepler. Thomson chose to play for a tie — “I felt like we had more bullpen than they did and could win it in extras if we didn’t score two in the ninth,” he said — and had Edmundo Sosa bunt Kepler over to second.

Bryson Stott moved Kepler over to third with a grounder and gave Turner a chance to tie the game. But after being the primary energy source for the offense earlier in the game, Turner struck out on a sinker from Nationals reliever Cole Henry to end the game.

“I would have loved to hit some doubles and jog and hit some homers and stuff, but sometimes it doesn’t always go that way,” Turner said. “They’ve got some funky guys and matched up pretty well. That was the difference in the game. If we can get some hits in those situations, then maybe we’ll pull away.

The Phillies built a 2-1 lead when Stott doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice in the third inning and Kyle Schwarber banged an RBI double in the fifth.

And after a midday power nap, Luzardo exhibited power with a fastball that maxed out at 97.6 mph.

For six innings, it was enough. And then it wasn’t.

“Everyone had a long night and it was kind of rough on everyone,” Luzardo said. “But we just showed up to the field, and it was kind of just business as usual.”