Improbable Phillies Comeback Highlights Season Turnaround

Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Improbable Phillies Comeback Highlights Season Turnaround

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nicholas Covone | Last updated Jun 24, 2026 11:05 AM ET

The Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals played one of the wildest games of the 2026 MLB season thus far.

The Nationals came out swinging quickly against Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo, putting up five runs threw four innings.

Despite the five runs, Luzardo pushed threw 6 2/3 strong innings to keep his team in the game while striking out a career high 13 batters.

With a couple of Phillies rallies in the 7th and 8th innings, the score sat at 6-8 going into the top of the ninth inning.

The Nationals brought in right-hander Brad Lord to close out the game, and it quickly seemed like the night was over as he struck out the first two batters of the inning.

But after allowed a two-out two-strike sharp single to Phillies' leadoff man Trea Turner, the Nationals bullpen once again started to unravel.

On a 0-1 pitch, red-hot Brandon Marsh crushed a clutch game-tying home run 400 feet for his 11th of the year.

Home runs did not prove to be rally killers on Tuesday night, because the Phillies kept the lineup moving following Marsh's shot.

A pair of singles from Bryce Harper and Derek Hall brought up Bryson Stott, who tucked a ball just fair and into the second deck to blow the game open with a three-run home run.

Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5)Brad Mills-Imagn Images

The team followed Stott's home run with a single, double, walk, single and finally a strikeout, pushing the score to 14-8 going into the bottom side of the inning.

That ninth inning featured eight runs on eight hits with two outs, with the Phillies down to their final strike before the rally. It became the first time in the organizations 143 year history where they scored eight or more runs with two outs in the ninth inning. A historic performance for the Phillies as they closed the door and capped off a 14-9 comeback victory.

Crazy game.

8 runs and 8 hits with 2 outs in the 9th. First 9th inning in franchise history where Phillies scored 8+ runs with 2 outs in the 9th.

Trea Turner got the inning going.

Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott with the big HRs.

Everyone in #Phillies lineup had a hit, and…
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrPHL) June 24, 2026

This comeback highlights the roller coaster season the Phillies are having. After starting off 9-19 and firing their manager Rob Thomson, they have played to a .667 winning percentage, going 34-17 under the guidance of interim manager Don Mattingly.

Philadelphia seems to thrive coming off of a change in management. This stretch is eerily similar to their National League pennant-winning 2022 season following the managerial switch that originally brought Thomson to the helm.

As of Wednesday morning, the Phillies sit in second place in the National League East and have shorten the Braves lead to five and a half games. A lead that was up to 10 just weeks ago.

With the Braves starting to slow down, the Phillies could be in prime position to make this division race extremely interesting.

Philadelphia continues their series against the Nationals on Wednesday night at 6:45 p.m.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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