The Nationals dig deep — and even deeper into their bullpen — to outlast the Phillies

Kyle McGowin, Wander Suero, Sam Clay, Justin Miller, Austin Voth and Tanner Rainey had already entered and exited a sideways baseball game. Brad Hand had thrown 34 pitches in Tuesday night’s victory at Citizens Bank Park, and Daniel Hudson, Kyle Finnegan and Will Harris are all on the injured list. Back in spring, when everything was fresh and rosy, when a bullpen formed around Hand, Hudson, Harris and the promise of depth, there was no way to predict this predicament, big division game or not. It wouldn’t have seemed remotely possible for June 23. It wouldn’t have seemed possible for Sept. 23, either.