The Phillies suffered a demoralizing 6-4 loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon.
Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run against Joaquin Benoit on a full-count pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Nats the win. Harper hit two homers on the day.
For the second game in a row, the Phillies rallied in the late innings to take a lead.
The Phils scored two in the eighth and one in the ninth to take a 4-3 lead.
Cesar Hernandez, the hero of Saturday's win with a two-run homer in the eighth, was one of three Phillies with a hit in Sunday's eighth-inning rally. Daniel Nava also had a hit in the inning and Tommy Joseph singled home the tying run with two outs. The Phils also benefited from an error by Jayson Werth in the inning.
The Phils took the lead in the ninth on a leadoff double by Aaron Altherr, a groundout by Odubel Herrera and an RBI fielder's choice groundball by Freddy Galvis. Altherr scored on the play, diving across home plate as the throw from second base got away from catcher Matt Wieters.
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Benoit allowed a one-out walk and a one-out single before Harper's homer with two outs.
Starting pitching report
Jerad Eickhoff gave up eight hits and three runs over six innings. He struck out five.
Eickhoff lost a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he gave up back-to-back doubles to the first two batters he faced.
In the third, he got ahead of Anthony Rendon, 0-2, before giving up an infield hit. The play at first was reviewed and the Phillies lost the challenge after a delay of 100 seconds. Eickhoff then emerged from the delay and threw a first-pitch slider that Harper crushed for a two-run homer.
Eickhoff has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 11 straight starts, dating to last season. The last Phillies starter to do that was Cole Hamels in 2014.
Run support is still a problem for Eickhoff. He has made 44 starts for the Phillies and the team has averaged just 3.79 runs while he's been in the game.
Washington lefty Gio Gonzalez gave up three runs, one of which was unearned, in 7 1/3 innings.
Gonzalez gave up just three hits and a run through seven innings and took a 3-1 lead to the mound in the eighth. He gave up two one-out hits and both turned into runs as the Phillies tied the game. However, only one of the runs was earned as an error by leftfielder Jayson Werth loomed large.
In his last five starts against the Phils, dating to last season, Gonzalez has allowed just six earned runs in 33 2/3 innings.
Bullpen report
Joely Rodriguez and Pat Neshek pitched scoreless ball before Benoit blew up. Coda Glover gave up the game-tying single to Joseph.
The run was charged to Gonzalez.
Blake Treinen was in line for the loss before Harper's heroics.
At the plate
Hernandez had three hits. He led off the game with a solo homer, the first of his big-league career from the right side of the plate. That was the Phillies' only run until the eighth when they rallied for a pair of runs to tie the game.
Hernandez has three homers on the season and two have led off games. He had just six homers last season.
Altherr's huge leadoff double in the ninth came with him starting in center field in place of Herrera, who did not start for the first time all season. Herrera pinch-hit in the ninth and appeared to hurt himself running.
Harper had five RBIs with a pair of homers.
Health check
Leftfielder Howie Kendrick was out of the starting lineup because of soreness near his ribs. He landed hard making a diving catch in Saturday's game. Brock Stassi got the start in left field.
Up next
The Phillies are off on Monday. They open a three-game series in New York against the Mets on Tuesday night. The Mets are 29-12 against the Phils since the start of 2015.
The Phils named Zach Eflin as their starting pitcher for Tuesday night's game. He will come up from Triple A to take the place of injured Clay Buchholz. Zack Wheeler (1-1, 7.45) will pitch for the Mets.
On Wednesday night, Vince Velasquez (0-2, 9.00) will oppose Robert Gsellman (0-1, 9.28)
On Thursday night, Aaron Nola (1-0, 3.27) will face Noah Syndergaard (1-0, 0.95)
