MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits of the Final Week
6. Trea Turner, Washington Nationals, 49 percent
Washington’s five-game mid-week sweep of the Phillies sealed the Nationals’ effort to claim the National League’s first wild-card spot. Turner provided the most important hit.
It came in the middle game of that sweep, Washington having claimed a Monday doubleheader. After five innings Tuesday, however, Philadelphia led 4-2 and had Aaron Nola going strong.
Nola’s luck turned in the top of the sixth, and with it turned the game. Asdrubal Cabrera walked on a 3-2 pitch to open the inning, and one out later Victor Robles slipped a base hit through the hole between short and third.
Nola fanned Yan Gomes for the second out, but pinch hitter Howie Kendrick walked on another 3-2 pitch, loading the bases for Turner and prompting Gabe Kapler to remove Nola in favor of Jared Hughes.
It was one of those decisions that seemed logical at the time, Nola having thrown 115 pitches. Ah, but the best-laid plans of mice and men… Turner greeted Hughes with a second-pitch grand slam over the left-center field fence, and Washington leaped from a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
Turner’s slam elevated Washington’s victory prospects by a full 50 percent, from just 31 to 81 percent. In time, they withstood a Bruce Harper home run to win 6-5, and two days later completed the sweep.