The blowtorches went away Tuesday afternoon and at last baseball returned to Citizens Bank Park. But the Phillies failed to catch fire.
They opened their crucial nine-game homestand with one of their most lackluster games of the season as they fell to the Nationals, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader. They began the doubleheader five games behind first-place Atlanta, their biggest margin of the season. Time is running out for the Phillies to make a charge. And they did not show any urgency in the first game, when they struck out 15 times.
They totaled just five hits and had eight runners reach base, four of whom reached scoring position.