Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 6/19/2022

Time: 12:05 p.m. ET

Venue: Nationals Park, Washington, DC

Where to watch: Peacock

DraftKings: Phillies -165, Nationals +140

BetMGM: NL

Caesars: Phillies -169, Nationals +150

Phillies: 36-31

Nationals: 23-46

Fifteen wins in 17 games. That's pretty incredible given how everything has transpired to this point for the Philadelphia Phillies. And Saturday was the proving point that the level of unsung hero is paramount right now.

That unsung hero is Rhys Hoskins, who has been clutch a ton over the past few weeks and did it again on Saturday in Philly's 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals and to take the first four of this five-game series in Washington DC.

Hoskins, as the pinch hitter, drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning for the Phillies to now come within inches of surpassing the Atlanta Braves for second in the NL East. As a result, the Phillies are 14-2 since firing Joe Girardi and are five games over .500 for the first time this season.

"Get to .500, now you're looking at (going five games over)," Philadelphia interim manager Rob Thomson said. "Get to five over, now you're looking at 10."

It's been a great run for this group and things have looked up tremendously for them ever since. Their involvement of being this good has added some much-needed intrigue as it pertains to the division as a whole. The New York Mets keep winning and look like one of the best teams in the league, and the Braves -- despite losing back-to-back games after winning 14 in a row -- are not going away any time soon.

So here come the Phillies -- who had only five hits in the win -- finding different ways to win games. Aaron Nola went eight scoreless innings and had eight strikeouts. If not for Lane Thomas tying the game in the ninth, Nola would've had one of his best wins of the season given that performance. But it was a tremendous pitching performance between Nola and Josiah Gray, who threw six innings of one-hit ball.

"You know, we're in a little rut right now, but about a week before we were playing pretty good baseball," Gray said. "So continue to get back to those winning ways and we're going to get there soon. We're all putting the work in. I'm sure the fans are going to start coming more and more as the weather starts heating up and we get back to our winning ways. "

But with the Phillies winning this game without Bryce Harper (blister) in the lineup, and still found a way to secure this win, is pretty incredible. I get it, the Nationals aren't the best team in the world and are not something to take seriously. But given the seriousness of this one with a sold-out crowd and the Washington faithful honoring Ryan Zimmerman before the game, the Phillies should be commended for handling the emotion as well as they did to get this win.

Now, they get a chance to sweep a five-game set and go into the latter parts of June and finish strong.

"Winning is fun," Nola said. "Losing is not ever fun. The more you win, the more fun you have, the better it is. It's pretty simple."

Don't overthink this one. The Phillies are clearly the better team, but it's how they've been able to find different ways to do it that remains impressive. I have no doubt they'll find a way to do that again. Phillies win 8-4

Phillies are 8-5 as a road favorite this season.

Phillies are 11-5 as a favorite of -150 or more this season.

Nationals are 6-22 as a home underdog this season.

Nationals are 5-23 against division opponents this season.

Phillies:
Kyle Schwarber (L) LF
Rhys Hoskins (R) 1B
Bryce Harper (L) DH
Nick Castellanos (R) RF
Didi Gregorius (L) SS
Odubel Herrera (L) CF
Alec Bohm (R) 3B
Bryson Stott (L) 2B
Garrett Stubbs (L) C
SP - Zach Eflin

Nationals:
Lane Thomas (R) LF
Cesar Hernandez (S) 2B
Juan Soto (L) RF
Nelson Cruz (R) DH
Josh Bell (S) 1B
Maikel Franco (R) 3B
Luis Garcia (L) SS
Riley Adams (R) C
Victor Robles (R) CF
SP - Jackson Tetreault