WASHINGTON -- Tuesday afternoon’s news of left-hander  landing on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation puts added pressure on the Phillies’ starting rotation heading toward October.

But needing to show encouraging signs,  struggled to get out of his recent funk and the Phillies bullpen gave up another big hit late in a 6-3 loss to the Nationals.

With the game tied 3-3 in the seventh inning, Sánchez gave up back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the frame. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, interim manager Don Mattingly summoned Jonathan Bowlan from the bullpen. But the right-hander surrendered a go-ahead three-run home run to pinch-hitter Daylen Lile on his very first pitch.

Sánchez was charged with two of those runs, leaving him with five runs allowed off eight hits and two walks while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings. He threw 98 pitches, 57 for strikes. The southpaw now has a 7.04 ERA over his past five starts.

Kyle Schwarber had given the Phillies the lead with a leadoff home run in the fifth inning. The slugger’s Major League-leading 45th of the year traveled a Statcast-projected 366 feet to right field.

The Phillies entered the day a half-game behind the Cubs for the top National League Wild Card spot and 4 1/2 games behind the Braves in the NL East. The Cubs and Braves were still playing against one another as of the final out in the Phillies' loss.