Aaron Nola picks up his 14th win as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber and Weston Wilson each drove in two runs, Aaron Nola earned his 14th victory and the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies avoided a series sweep and closed the regular season with a 6-3 victory over Washington Nationals starting Sunday.

Philadelphia finished 95-67, the second-best record in the National League behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64), and was five games better than last season. The Phillies’ win total was their most since winning 102 games in 2011 – the division’s last win.

The Phillies have a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will face either NL Central champion Milwaukee or the NL’s third wild card in a division series scheduled to begin Saturday in Philadelphia.

Luis García Jr. hit a home run in the first inning for Washington, which finished 71-91 for the second straight season.

Nola (14-8) allowed three runs in five-plus innings and struck out seven. A day after teammate Zack Wheeler finished his regular season with 200 innings pitched, Nola came just two outs away from achieving the same feat. The 31-year-old right-hander was lifted after giving up a leadoff triple to Dylan Crews in the sixth.

Phillies reliever José Ruiz loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth before striking out García and James Wood. Kody Clemens then converted Juan Yepez’s long shot to the left, ending the game and securing Ruiz’s first save in 264 career appearances.

The Phillies loaded the bases with no outs in the first against Jake Irvin before Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm had back-to-back RBI groundouts.

Philadelphia didn’t have another baserunner until the fifth, when it loaded the bases again. Schwarber hit a two-run single to left and two batters later Wilson ripped a two-run double to right to end Irvin’s outing.

Irvin (10-14), who passed teammate Patrick Corbin for the NL lead in losses, allowed six runs and struck out three in 4 1/3 innings.

García and Yepez had RBI singles in the fifth against Nola.

Philadelphia gave starters Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto a break. Nick Castellanos became the first member of the Phillies to play 162 games in a season since Freddy Galvis in 2017. Castellanos was taken off the field in the second inning.

TRAINER ROOM

Phillies: OF Austin Hays (back soreness) was not on the roster for the second straight game, although manager Rob Thomson said he was available if needed. … OF Johan Rojas (due to illness) stayed away from the team. … Philadelphia recalled INF Buddy Kennedy from the team’s spring training complex and optioned LHP Tyler Gilbert to the spring training complex.

PARTICIPATION PROTECTION

Washington’s seasonal attendance was 1,967,302, a 5.4% increase from the 2023 total of 1,865,832.

NEXT

Phillies: There will be an intrasquad duel in Philadelphia on Wednesday before the NLDS opener against Milwaukee or the NL’s third wild card on Saturday.

Nationals: Opened spring training games Feb. 22 against Houston in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB