Washington Nationals’ lineup for 3rd of 4 with Philadelphia Phillies + Dusty Baker on fifth straight win...

Washington scored 11 runs on 16 hits last night, but the Nationals still went just 6 for 19 overall with runners in scoring position and nine left on base in the second of four with the Philadelphia Phillies in Nationals Park.

“It was a big offensive night for us,” Dusty Baker told reporters after the Nats’ 87th win of the season, “even though we left some runners in scoring position.”

As Baker’s fond of saying, you can never quit, because you never know which run will end up being the winning run.

Last night, it was Michael A. Taylor’s eighth-inning RBI triple that ended up being the game-winner when the Phillies rallied with the third of their three three-run homers on the night in the top of the ninth.

“I don’t think I’ve ever won a game where the opposition hits three three-run homers,” Baker said, “... and we were fortunate to get out of that game.”

“That was a close game,” Baker added. “They were trying to give it to us. They made some errors, some costly errors on a couple of double plays that would have gotten them out of the inning, and then cost them. That shows you the importance of defense.”

As for offense, the Nationals scored 10+ runs for the 21st time this season, the most games with 10+ runs scored in the majors in 2017, ahead of Cleveland (20), and one more game of 10+ runs than the major league leading Boston Red Sox (20) in 2016, but five short of Toronto (26) in 2015.

Baker and the Nationals look for their third straight win over the Phillies and their sixth straight win overall with Edwin Jackson on the mound tonight in the nation’s capital.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 3RD OF 4 WITH THE PHILLIES:

NOTES: Dusty Baker did say he’d try to get some of the kids starts while they were up. Raudy Read behind the dish tonight will give us a good look at the young catcher’s game and a few at bats to get a feel for the backstop at the plate.