PHILADELPHIA — Here was opportunity, knocking again and again for the Washington Nationals against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night. With the bases loaded in the third inning, they didn’t answer. With the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth, they struck out three times in a row. Down to their final strike in the ninth, Nathaniel Lowe appeared to finally answer the call, tucking a rainbow of a flyball just inside the right field foul pole for a go-ahead, three-run, Citizens Bank Park-silencing homer.

Then came a meltdown in the bottom of the inning. Alec Bohm opened it with an 0-2 single off closer Kyle Finnegan, who issued a walk to Bryson Stott that he called “inexcusable” after the game. With one out and runners on second and third, Dylan Crews caught a flyball in right field. He delivered a rocket to catcher Keibert Ruiz, who tried to apply the tag on Bohm too early and missed the ball, tying the score. Finnegan, who struggled with his command all inning, bounced one in the opposite batter’s box shortly thereafter. Ruiz scrambled to get the ball. It was too late.

The result: Stott sliding home safely and a heartbreaker of a 7-6 loss to the Phillies.

In a quiet clubhouse after the game, there was plenty to unpack. What separated Washington (13-17) and Philadelphia (16-13)?

A missed tag by Ruiz: “That was a good throw,” Ruiz said. “I tried to catch it maybe too fast, tried to get to the ball and not wait for the ball. That was my mistake. I don’t want to [make] any excuses. I need to do a better job.”

Some big outs with runners on: “We as a unit left a lot of guys out there tonight and could have really given ourselves some breathing room, and we didn’t,” Lowe said. “That’s just part of it. It’s something as a team that we need to improve on. And tomorrow, we’ll bounce back and ideally do a better job of it.”

And a wild pitch: “I put Keibert in a really tough spot there,” Finnegan said. “He did everything he could to stop it. Just bounced away.”

The narrow difference between the teams began with a pitchers’ duel between MacKenzie Gore and Zack Wheeler. No pitchers in baseball have more strikeouts. Gore completed six innings to Wheeler’s 6⅔. Gore allowed three runs to Wheeler’s two. Wheeler struck out seven, Gore six. Philadelphia took advantage of Gore’s mistakes. Washington did not take advantage of Wheeler’s.

In the first inning, Gore left a fastball up to fastball-killer Kyle Schwarber, who took it over the left field wall for a two-run blast and a 2-0 Philadelphia edge. Gore left just one changeup up in the zone all night, and Johan Rojas turned on it in the third for a no-doubt 421-foot solo shot and a 3-0 Phillies advantage. Wheeler, meanwhile, had just one shaky inning — he lost his command in the third. CJ Abrams lashed a triple to center that Rojas misread. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases, but Ruiz swung under a cutter down the middle for strike three.

Chances were abundant during the Nationals’ comeback. Luis García Jr. worked a 10-pitch at-bat before homering to get Washington on the board in the sixth. Jacob Young and Abrams hit back-to-back doubles — Young’s forced Wheeler out of the game — with two outs in the seventh to cut the Nationals’ deficit to 3-2.

In the eighth, with the bases loaded after two singles and a fielder’s choice, Josh Bell chased a José Alvarado cutter inside for strike three before Crews did the same. Pinch hitter Alex Call got five straight sinkers for a 2-2 count. When he swung through an inside cutter, pandemonium arrived at Citizens Bank Park. Alvarado and catcher J.T. Realmuto fist-pumped in unison.

It felt over. It seemed over when Jose A. Ferrer allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning. It wasn’t.

“I mean, we could have folded early. We didn’t,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said. “We had opportunities early. We couldn’t capitalize, but we faced some pretty good pitching.”

In the ninth, James Wood brought Abrams home with a double — another ball that Rojas misread. Amed Rosario hit a grounder that shortstop Trea Turner sailed away from the bag, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. Lowe took full advantage. He said he was just trying to keep a simple approach and not hit anything too hard. He hit the ball just hard enough. But that swing wasn’t enough.

“This one hurts for me a lot,” Finnegan said. “We had some huge moments to get ourselves back into the game. That’s a game that you’ve got to finish out.”

Notes: Martinez said it will be about a month before third baseman Paul DeJong (broken nose) can begin baseball activities. Martinez hopes to get him back sometime around the all-star break, but that is a loose timeline. …

Reliever Derek Law (right forearm inflammation) probably will meet the team in Cincinnati for a three-game series that starts Friday. If everything feels right, he will start throwing. The Nationals will closely monitor how he rebounds physically the day after he throws, given that was the issue in spring training. …

The Nationals released outfielder Stone Garrett, who was at Class AAA Rochester. The 29-year-old had an .827 OPS in 91 games with Washington, most of which came in 2023 before he suffered a serious leg injury that August. He was designated for assignment this spring and was hitting .087 at Rochester. …

Right-hander Cade Cavalli (Tommy John rehab) exited his start with Rochester after two innings and 36 pitches. He lasted five innings and 69 pitches in his previous rehab outing.