Maybe the Phillies missed a chance to trade for a difference-making right-handed-hitting outfielder before the trade deadline.
Or maybe they’d already done it.
In an extremely on-the-nose act of baseball poetry, Derek Hill played hero for the Phillies in their first game after the 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, which was headlined by Luis Arráez and their lack of another righty addition to the lineup. Hill, whom the Phillies acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on June 11, blasted a go-ahead grand slam with the Phillies down three in the seventh inning, lifting them to a 6-3 win.
It was Hill’s second go-ahead, game-winning homer with the Phillies trailing against the Nationals this season. The first was June 24. Monday was also a rare win in a game started by someone other than Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler or Jesús Luzardo. The last one? June 24.
It was quite a way to render irrelevant what had been, to that point, a sign that perhaps the Phillies might regret failing to land an (additional) right-handed bat. Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez had fired 6 1/3 innings of three-hit shutout ball while maxing out at 93.7 mph. Through six innings, the Phillies had a runner in scoring position for the duration of one at bat.
Alvarez got the first out of the seventh, then hit Bryan De La Cruz and walked Bryson Stott, ending his night. Tom Cosgrove, part of a leaky Nationals bullpen that gave the Phillies three memorable comebacks in D.C. in June, walked Edmundo Sosa to load the bases.
And then, well, all Hill broke loose.
The deadline also represented some degree of faith in Aaron Nola, as the Phillies did not add a starting pitcher to take the place of Andrew Painter in the regular season or, likely, Nola in the postseason. Those early returns were solid, if unspectacular. Nola went six innings on Monday, allowing six hits, two of which were homers that accounted for all of his three runs. He threw 97 pitches and allowed eight hard-hit balls, walking two and striking out five.
After Daylen Lile’s two-run homer with no outs in the second made it 3-0, Nola faced three above the minimum. He got 11 whiffs on 43 swings in 97 pitches. (Those numbers were six, 10 and 19, respectively, on his knuckle-curve.)
More fallout from the deadline is Bryce Harper‘s move to right field to accommodate for the infield reshuffling Arráez’s arrival will prompt on Tuesday. That means Harper’s eighth-inning at bat could, perhaps, wind up as his last plate appearance of the year as a first baseman. If so, he ended this first base stint on a good note.
Harper smacked a 433-foot two-run homer to straightaway center field, giving the Phillies a three-run cushion.
He also made a sliding play on a sharp grounder for the first out of Jhoan Duran‘s ninth inning. The Phillies’ closer hit a batter but threw his second scoreless and hitless inning in as many chances since his second blown save of the season.
On a deadline day that saw the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs (then one game back and four games up, respectively, on the Phillies in the Wild Card standings) make out quite well, the Phillies kept their current postseason spot by stealing a game late. It also put the Nationals 5 1/2 games back of them instead of 3 1/2.
The Phillies (60-53) have won three straight. And this one came off the bat of the righty outfielder they traded for almost two months ago.
Barbara Jean
August 6, 2026 at 8:12 pm
Like, what’s with all the injuries in baseball? The amount of injuries can fill a 600 bed hospital. I don’t remember all these injuries growing up with baseball. Can it be the pitch clock, the ghost runner in overtime, or the ABS challenge? All damaging changes to shorten the games. And, now to mention the Velo with Pitchers. The pitchers are going down like bowling pins