PHILADELPHIA — Nationals left fielder James Wood lined a cutter straight up the middle in the sixth inning on Thursday, 103.9 mph right off Taijuan Walker’s thigh.

Walker still made the play, coming off the mound to field the ball on the infield grass and get the out at first. And it wasn’t even the first time he put his body on the line in the Phillies’ 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals.

On the first play of the game, CJ Abrams hit a chopper on the right side of the infield that Walker managed to snare while on the run. He flipped the ball out of his glove to Bryce Harper, who made a bare-handed catch, before his momentum brought him to the ground.

But a few exceptional plays in the field — Harper also picked a 96.5-mph ground ball in the fourth inning to make an out — weren’t enough to overcome a few costly mistakes that led to a four-run sixth inning for Washington.

Walker remained in the game in the sixth inning after getting the once-over from Phillies trainers and throwing out a few test pitches. He had induced a lot of contact on the ground, and when the Nationals hit the ball in the air, it stayed in the ballpark.

Over the first five innings, Walker only allowed one hit. He had retired 10 consecutive Nationals until Abrams led off the sixth inning with a double.

After the Wood comebacker, Walker allowed two singles and Harper committed an error on a ball that got by him down the right-field line. Keibert Ruiz advanced three bases on Harper’s first error of the year, that also scored a run.

Orion Kerkering took over with the Phillies trailing 3-1, inheriting runners on first and third. One more run scored on what was ruled a double steal, when Rafael Marchán’s throw to second went into the outfield.

The Phillies offense, meanwhile, had two singles in the first two innings, but did not advance a runner past first until Max Kepler’s double in the fifth. Kepler came around to score on a single from Alec Bohm.

They scratched across another run in the bottom of the sixth to chip away at the Nationals’ lead on an RBI single from Nick Castellanos.

A rally seemed to be forming in the eighth inning when Trea Turner singled and Kyle Schwarber drew a walk, but Castellanos hit into a double play.

In the ninth, Johan Rojas hit a two-out triple, narrowly diving in safely under the tag, but Marchán lined out to end the game.

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