Washington Nationals rookie Trea Turner was going to get a good pitch to hit. Turner (.345/.365/.561) had already homered earlier in the night, a two-run shot in the seventh, but with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, with the game tied at 4, his speed (21 steals in 24 attempts in just 52 games) dictated keeping him off the bases at all costs.
A walk or a single almost immediately translated to a runner in scoring position.
And so it was that Philadelphia reliever Frank Herrmann kept pounding the zone ahead in the count 1-2. Turner fouled off one pitch, then a second.
The number of pitches spoiled was at five when Herrmann (0-2, 9.35 ERA, 1.96 WHIP) left a 91-mph fastball over the center of the plate.
Turner hit the ball out to dead-center, the blast, his second of the night, his eighth of the season, measuring 432 feet, lifting the Nats to a 5-4 win Friday night.
The win for Washington (83-58) keeps the team eight games up on the streaking New York Mets (75-66), who have won six straight.
Tanner Roark (14-8, 2.85 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) got a no-decision, leaving the game with a 4-1 lead after giving up a run on six hits in six innings, striking out eight and walking two.
Rookie setup man Koda Glover (4.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) gave the lead back in surrendering a three-run homer to Phils catcher Cameron Rupp in the eighth.
Mark Melancon (2-1, 1.67 ERA, 0.98 ERA) got the win with a scoreless ninth ahead of the Turner homer.
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Chris Graham
