The Washington Nationals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on Monday, June 22, 2026, at Nationals Park following a rain delay of one hour and 32 minutes.
Washington's offense jumped ahead early against Phillies opener Tim Mayza when James Wood hit a leadoff double and Dylan Crews drove him home with a single.
Luis Garcia Jr. later added a home run off Alan Rangel, who pitched five innings in relief for Philadelphia.
Left-handed starting pitcher Foster Griffin led the Nationals by striking out nine batters over 7 1/3 innings while allowing one run, moving Washington back into a tie for the final National League wild-card spot.
Mattingly Praises Rangel's Relief Work
Interim manager Don Mattingly discussed the challenges the Philadelphia hitters faced against the Washington starting pitcher during the game.
"Just the mix and match for us, we didn't seem to do enough with him," said Don Mattingly, interim manager of the Phillies.
"Got ahead in the count, two strikes, variety of basically breaking balls for the lefties. Kept our righties off-balance for the most part.
Just kept pitching."
Mattingly also noted the performance of Rangel, who was called up to occupy the fifth starter spot recently vacated by Andrew Painter.
"That was good to see," Mattingly said.
"He had a little bit of traffic, but he seemed to work out of it, and it didn't rattle him at all.
Kept throwing strikes, so we like that."
Rangel relied heavily on his off-speed pitches during his outing, using his changeup to secure three of his four total strikeouts.
"First of all, I'm very thankful, and I want to thank the team for giving me this opportunity, thankful to God for being here, and I'll just focus on pitching the way I've been pitching now," said Alan Rangel, pitcher for the Phillies.
"And focus on keeping it going from tonight."
Rangel explained his strategy of occasionally elevating his changeup to alter the visual perspective of opposing batters.
"Just wanted to show the pitch at that same eye level for the hitter," Rangel said.
"So if I did that in the same spot [as a fastball], with the difference in the pitch shape and the way it moves, I think that would create a little bit of a difference from when I threw both pitches."
Marsh Breaks Slump with Solo Homer
Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh broke an individual 0-for-14 slump against left-handed pitchers by hitting a solo home run off Griffin in the seventh inning.
Prior to the home run, teammate Bryce Harper approached Marsh in the dugout to offer encouragement and help him adjust his approach.
"That's just him being the leader he is," said Brandon Marsh, outfielder for the Phillies.
"He could see that I may have been overthinking a little bit up there, so he just came and put his arms on me, and put his hands on me, and just told me, 'Stop thinking so much and go be you.'
So super thankful for that.
He definitely brought me back here, and just got me out of my own head, and got me back on track a little bit."
The home run cut the Nationals' lead to 2-1 before Washington responded with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"Moments like that are special, and stuff that I won't forget," Marsh said.
"So he's just talking to me from experience, is what he was saying, and just being the leader that he is, and it was a special moment."
Griffin expressed satisfaction with his performance, describing it as one of the rare outings where a starting pitcher has optimal command of all his pitches.
"Every starting pitcher, you're gonna have 30 to 35 starts — there's only gonna be four to five where you've got everything," said Foster Griffin, pitcher for the Nationals.
"I would say tonight was one of those nights."
Griffin noted that he treated the matchup against a strong Philadelphia lineup containing Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber like any ordinary game.
"a white ball and a round bat," Griffin said.
Griffin also commented on the team's ability to remain competitive against difficult opponents throughout the season while pursuing a postseason position.
"I don't know the exact data, but I want to say we've had one of the harder schedules, too," Griffin said.
"I feel like we've played a lot of playoff teams, and we've up there above .
500, and we're pushing for a wild-card spot, and you never know what can happen."
Nationals manager Blake Butera elected to send Griffin back out for the eighth inning after he reached 99 pitches through seven frames.
"He does stuff like he did tonight," said Blake Butera, manager of the Nationals.
Following Griffin's exit, Curtis Mead hit a two-run home run off Philadelphia reliever Seth Johnson to extend Washington's lead, while Clayton Beeter forced Alec Bohm into a double play in the ninth inning to help secure the victory.
