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Suzuki homers as Nationals complete sweep of Phillies

Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki raises his glove with the ball after tagging out the Phillies’ Bryce Harper at the home plate during the fourth inning Thursday. AP photo

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Three home runs. Solid work from the bullpen. Strong defense, highlighted by two runners being thrown out at the plate.

At long last, the Washington Nationals are finally starting to look like a baseball team capable of making some noise in the NL East.

Kurt Suzuki continued his hot hitting against Philadelphia with a home run in the second inning, Anthony Rendon and Victor Robles homered in a four-run sixth inning, and the Nationals beat the Phillies 7-4 Thursday to complete a sweep of their rain-shortened series.

The Nationals earned their first three-game sweep of the season. This victory followed a doubleheader win over their division rivals on Wednesday and postponements Monday and Tuesday.

“Throughout the weather, throughout all the hoops that we went through, the boys came to play,” manager Dave Martinez said.

After sinking to 19-31 on May 23, Washington has used a 17-7 surge to get within two games of .500 (36-38) for the first time since April 28.

“This is gratifying to see,” Martinez said. “They made some really good plays on defense today. We’re playing good baseball all the way around — getting big hits when we need them, our bullpen’s stepped up, starting pitching has been good.”

Suzuki hit his eighth homer of the season in the second, a two-run shot that put the Nationals up 3-0. The Baldwin High School graduate has hit five home runs in six starts against the Phillies this season.

Rendon led off the sixth with a tiebreaking drive against Nick Pivetta (4-2), and Robles made it 7-3 with a three-run shot off Edubray Ramos.

Javy Guerra (1-0) worked the sixth to earn his ninth win in 222 career games. Sean Doolittle got three outs for his 16th save.

Jean Segura and Jay Bruce hit solo homers for the Phillies, who have lost four straight and eight of 10. Playing at Atlanta and Washington in succession, Philadelphia went 1-5 and was outscored 44-21.

“We performed poorly on this road trip,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “No excuses.”

Philadelphia right fielder Bryce Harper was booed loudly in the stadium he called home during the first seven years of his career. Batting leadoff for the first time this season, he went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.

He did not keep it low key. After making a catch to end the third inning, Harper faked throwing the ball to fans behind him and stuffed it in his glove, ultimately giving it to a Phillies fan near the dugout.

In the fourth, Harper delivered an RBI single and pointed both thumbs downward after reaching first base. Minutes later, he was thrown out by right fielder Adam Eaton while trying to score from second on a two-out single.

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