PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luis Arraez had two hits and two RBIs in his Philadelphia debut, Jesús Luzardo allowed four hits in eight innings and the Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.
Trea Turner added three hits and an RBI for Philadelphia, which began play with a two-game cushion in the NL wild-card race.
The Phillies acquired Arraez, a three-time batting champion and four-time All-Star, from the San Francisco Giants for a pair of minor leaguers on Monday to help their powerful but strikeout-heavy lineup, and it paid dividends immediately.
Batting fourth, Arraez drove in Turner from second base with an opposite-field single off Nationals opener Carson Palmquist (0-2) in the first to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead and plated Turner again in Philadelphia’s three-run third inning with a double to right field off Zack Littell.
That was plenty of run support for the All-Star lefty Luzardo (10-5), who struck out seven. Philadelphia improved to 46-18 in contests in which either Luzardo, Zack Wheeler or Cristopher Sánchez start.
The Phillies also had no problem defensively after making several shifts to their lineup to accommodate Arraez at second base, most notably moving two-time MVP Bryce Harper from first base to right field, where he had not played since April 13, 2022. Harper cleanly fielded the first pitch of the contest, retiring Dylan Crews on a line drive to right. Bryson Stott moved from second to third base, and Alec Bohm shifted from third to first base.
The reeling Nationals lost their seventh in a row. Already without Curtis Mead and Luis García Jr. after trading the run-producing hitters to the Red Sox and Yankees, respectively, Washington suffered a blow before the game by placing All-Star outfielder James Wood on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique.
Right-hander Caleb Kilian, whom the Phillies also got from the Giants in the Arraez trade, pitched a scoreless ninth.
Up Next
Washington RHP Jake Irvin (2-5, 5.56) opposes Phillies RHP Andrew Painter (1-8, 6.72) in the third contest of the four-game set on Wednesday night.
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