Aaron Altherr’s two-HR night leads Phils by Jordan Zimmermann, Nats

WASHINGTON (AP) – For Philadelphia Phillies rookie right-hander Aaron Nola, there were a couple of reasons why his outing against the Washington Nationals might stick in his mind for years to come.

“It was awesome”, he said. The Nationals have scored eight runs in their last three games and four or more runs in six of their last 10 games. “It was awesome. It means a lot to me, just wish I could have given them something a little better tonight”.

Bryce Harper hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the twelfth to give the Nationals a 2-1 win, their 79th of the year, but on a day when the Mets wrapped up the division, a reporter wondered if Williams had thought at all about what went wrong that led the Nats to where they found themselves?

A native of Landstuhl, Germany, Altherr drove in five and capped his first four-hit game with a double in the seventh and a ninth-inning single.

Bryce Harper has been a nemesis for the Mets all season but the Nationals outfielder had nothing but nice things to say about them on Saturday. They are also third in home runs in NL with 168.

The Phillies trailed 1-0 when Altherr hit a low liner to center with the bases loaded. And when he looped a line drive that got past a diving Michael Taylor, he had his chance. “I’ve been hurt in situations like that before”. The ball rolled back to the center field wall, allowing Altherr to clear the bases and book it home.

This is the first inside-the-park grand slam in Major League Baseball since Randy Winn did it for the Devil Rays against the Yankees on October 3, 1999, and the first Phillie to do it since since Ted Kazanski against the Giants on August 8, 1956.

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin was asked if he’d ever seen an inside-the-park grand slam.

“So that being said, I think everybody on the bench knew, at one point or another”. “But I can’t remember”. He allowed consecutive singles to Harper, Jayson Werth, and Clint Robinson to open the frame and fell behind, two balls and no strikes, to the next batter, Ian Desmond.

Phillies: 1B Ryan Howard (knee) took batting practice Friday.

In February as the Nationals gathered in Viera, Fla., there were dreams of a deep postseason run, though manager Matt Williams isn’t the type of person to utter the “World Series or bust” phrase that former Washington skipper Davey Johnson became known for.