WASHINGTON -- Left-hander Foster Griffin delivered another strong performance -- spinning a career-high 7 1/3 innings for his eighth victory -- and the Nationals smacked a pair of homers to topple the Phillies 4-1 in a rain-delayed series opener at Nationals Park.
In a rare matchup between the clubs when both are above .500 this late in the season, the Nationals demonstrated again how well they match up against good teams.
Over the weekend, the Nats battled the second-place Rays down to the wire before falling, 4-3. Monday, they took down the 42-win Phillies.
“At the end of the day, I think [facing stiff competition] only makes you become a better player, better competitor, better coach, whatever it might be,” said Nationals manager Blake Butera pregame.
One big reason the Nationals are 41-38 this late in the season is the starting pitching, and Griffin has been outstanding. Monday’s start was his best in his return to Major Leagues after three seasons in Japan.
"I feel like we've played a lot of playoff teams, and we are up there above .500 and we're pushing for a Wild Card spot,” Griffin said.
“You never know what can happen. I know I'm really impressed with this team as a whole. We're not backing down [to] anybody; [it] doesn't really matter the names on the back of the jerseys or what team we're playing. We feel like we got a good lineup and a good staff to go out there and combat it."
Griffin has racked up 40 strikeouts with only five walks over his past seven games. On Monday, he struck out a season-high-tying nine (four with his cutter) and walked none, firing 105 pitches, 74 for strikes, utilizing all seven of his pitches in the zone.
"I feel like every starting pitcher, you're going to have 30 to 35 starts,” Griffin said. “There's only going to be four to five where you got everything, no matter how many pitches you have. Just syncing up your mechanics with everything. I would say tonight was one of those."
Griffin is 2-0 against the Phillies this season. Monday, after a 92-minute rain delay, he surrendered a solo shot to Brandon Marsh but only three other hits to improve to 8-2.
The left-hander has allowed only one run in each of his past four outings covering 24 1/3 innings, and he has yielded one earned run or fewer in 10 of 16 starts this season.
"Stuff was just so good,” Butera said. “He had everything working tonight. He was able to move the ball in each and every direction it felt like, to keep both the lefties and the righties off balance. I thought the cutter was really good. I thought the fastball was as good as it's been.”
Luis García Jr. hit his 11th homer of the season in the second inning on the third straight changeup from Alan Rangel.
"The first changeup up, I just went for it,” García said via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “Then the one down low, it kind of made me think about it. I saw it go off a little bit slower. So by the third pitch, I was ready to go."
Curtis Mead added a two-run shot in the seventh off right-hander Seth Johnson that provided valuable insurance. Mead has a career-high 12 homers.
"He hit that two-run home run against a right-handed pitcher with two strikes,” Butera said. “We know he came here with a goal to really attack lefties, and he's fought his way into the lineup against righties and had some success against righties. And we saw it again tonight with that huge home run against a good arm in the bullpen."
James Wood, Dylan Crews and Keibert Ruiz each connected with a single and a double.
Crews’ double bounced off the top of the wall in left-center, missing a homer by a few inches. Wood’s 39th extra-base hit leads all NL outfielders.
Nasim Nuñez went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, his sixth multihit game in his past seven. He has reached base in 14 straight games and leads MLB with 29 stolen bases.
Richard Lovelady relieved Griffin in the eighth and struck out Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber. Clayton Beeter pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
"It was obviously challenging for both sides with the delayed start,” Mead said. “Just an emphasis today in the meeting, kind of focusing on our game and playing to our strengths. We feel like we can compete with them and definitely showed that tonight."