PHILADELPHIA – Weston Wilson became the ninth Phillies player to hit for the cycle, Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos had consecutive homers in the first inning and Philadelphia overpowered the Washington Nationals 13-3 on Thursday night.
Wilson tripled and singled in the fourth; homered in the seventh and, then — with fans chanting “Double! Double!” — doubled to right in the eighth, with Alex Call failing on a diving attempt.
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“When I was on the on-deck circle, I heard plenty of people saying it,” Wilson said. “Definitely knew. What I was doing was working, so I just kind of stayed with it.”
Wilson had the 10th cycle in Phillies history — Chuck Klein did it twice — and became the first home player to accomplish the feat at Citizens Bank Park since David Bell in 2004.
Wilson played 706 games in the minors before he was called up last season and homered in his first big-league at-bat — against the Nationals.
“He’s basically hit us pretty hard. He’s done a great job for them," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
Wilson had just 16 at-bats and 22 plate appearances last season, officially making him the first rookie in Phillies history to hit for the cycle.
Philadelphia took a 4-0 lead in the first, with Bohm hitting a three-run homer and Castellanos following with another shot.
Zack Wheeler (12-5) moved one behind Atlanta’s Chris Sale for most wins in the National League and the Phillies scored at least nine runs for the second straight game.
The Phillies had 17 hits, pounding the ball much like they did for most of the first half of the season before a summer swoon cost them the best record in baseball.
Back-to-back wins against the lowly Miami Marlins and Nationals may not mean the Phillies are totally back, but it sure beats the alternative.
The Phillies piled on with five runs in the fourth.
Keibert Ruiz hit his 10th and 11th homers of the season for the Nationals.
Unlike their 9-5 win against the Marlins, the Phillies never had to rally to win this one.
Wheeler struck out six, walked none and gave up two runs (one earned) in six innings.
Wheeler set a needed tone in the first when he struck out the first two batters in a 1-2-3 inning. The Phillies allowed the Diamondbacks and Marlins to score in the first inning in each of the last five games — and the Phillies went 1-4. Perhaps with the pressure off to deliver a comeback, the Phillies felt more free at the plate.
“Feels like our offense is doing its thing,” Wheeler said. “They made it easier for us.”
Or maybe Mitchell Parker (6-7) just didn’t have it.
Parker allowed nine runs and 10 hits in three innings and his ERA jumped from 3.83 to 4.44.
All-Star shortstop Trea Turner shook off a cold stretch that earned him a night off against the Marlins and had three hits, three runs and two RBIs. Wilson hit his first big-league triple when he crushed one off the right field wall and the ball rolled so far past Call that it was retrieved by the second baseman. Wilson scored on Johan Rojas’ single for a 5-0 lead.
Bryce Harper burned his former team on a single to right, then hustled to second which forced a throw to the base from the cutoff man that allowed Turner to scoot home uncontested from third to make it 8-0. Harper had a routine flyball dropped by centerfielder Jacob Young in the seventh. The error allowed the 11th run of the game.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies LHP Ranger Suárez (lower back soreness) could rejoin the rotation for the Aug. 23-25 series in Kansas City.
UP NEXT
The Nationals were set to send RHP Patrick Corbin (2-2, 5.98 ERA) to the mound Friday against Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (11-6, 3.60 ERA)
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB