PHILADELPHIA — Johan Rojas lifted a fly ball into short right field and pleaded.

A half inning after misplaying a line drive hit to him in center field as the Phillies blew a three-run cushion in the top of the ninth, the glove-first outfielder had a chance to make up for his defensive blunder at the plate. Rojas faced Washington closer Kyle Finnegan with a runner on second and his teammate Alec Bohm standing 90 feet from home as the potential tying run at third.

Rojas battled in a two-strike count, then poked a 96 mph fastball 246 feet into right. All he could do was beg that it was enough.

“I just hit the ball in the air,” Rojas said, “and I said, “Come on, Alec. Come on, Alec.’”

Nationals right fielder Dylan Crews caught it, but his throw hopped past catcher Keibert Ruiz as Bohm slid in and reached back with his right hand to smack the plate. One batter later, Bryson Stott dashed home on a wild pitch to win in walk-off fashion. The disaster that was the top of the ninth inning turned into an exciting, bizarre victory in the bottom of the frame.

And Rojas, in a riveting see-saw performance, was a major character — for good and bad reasons — as the Phillies defeated Washington, 7-6, in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

“I just go to the plate, try to get on base and help my team win,” Rojas said.

Getting some regular run as the everyday center fielder with Brandon Marsh out due to a hamstring injury, Rojas has done well for himself in the batter’s box. He went 2-for-3 against the Nats with his first home run of the season — a 421-foot blast into left-center — two runs scored and the equalizing sacrifice fly. He’s displaying some of the adjustments the Phillies want to see out of their No. 9 hitter.

“I think he’s making better decisions at the plate,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s using the entire field. You still see some wild swings on him, but, for the most part, he’s cut down his swing, so he’s hitting a lot of line drives.”

The team would like Rojas to not worry about doing too much with the bat. “He does have some power, but I don’t want to tell him that,” Thomson joked. The Phillies have preached simplicity. While he did homer, his smaller contribution at the end of the game proved to be just as important.

Rojas is now batting .288/.328/.385 in 20 games this season. Of course, those numbers are not exactly phenomenal. But that’s a perfectly acceptable slash line for the kind of elite center fielder that Rojas has shown he can be during his young career.

The issue, however, is that Rojas has not played like that level of defender this year. He entered the night with one defensive run saved, and he’s been prone to making some obvious, even confusing, mistakes.

His uncertainty in center only continued on Tuesday. In the third inning, Rojas failed to corral a fly ball at the wall that turned into a CJ Abrams triple. It would’ve been a tough play, but it was one that Rojas would probably be expected to handle. In the ninth, Rojas ran too far in on a liner that soared over his head for an RBI double from James Wood.

The late-game defense crumbled around reliever Orion Kerkering as he attempted to close the game out, with pivotal miscues coming from Rojas and shortstop Trea Turner. Kerkering later gave up a go-ahead three-run homer to Nathaniel Lowe with two outs when he could’ve been out of the inning.

“I have to catch those balls,” Rojas said.

While Rojas found redemption as the Phillies (16-13) rallied back, his offense will likely never be his calling card. He’s looked a lot better as a hitter and any development in that regard is a major positive, but he’s still out there to play center field. Rojas knows he’ll need to clean it up on defense, and the club has faith that he can do so.

“I’m not concerned,” Thomson said. “I think he needs to keep it simple, make the plays he supposed to make, but I’m not concerned. We’ll take care of that. He’s a great defender.”