Nats come up a run short, fall to Phillies 4-3
It's never easy in Philadelphia, but then again it isn't supposed to be. The Nationals scored a run on closer Brad Lidge and had the tying run 90 feet away, but Ryan Zimmerman grounded into the game-ending double play.
Washington's 4-3 loss allowed the Phillies to clinch their second straight NL East title and for the second straight year, Jamie Moyer beat the Nationals to clinch the division crown.
Washington managed four hits off Lidge in the ninth, but came away with only one run. With one-out, Roger Berndina singled and pinch-hitter Ryan Langerhans walked. Anderson Hernandez blooped a base hit to center, scoring Bernadina and bringing the Nationals with one at 4-3.
Langerhans tripped rounding second as the throw went to the plate and he had to go back to the bag. Cristian Guzman then singled on a sharp liner up the middle and Langerhans wasn't sure if the ball was going to be caught so he froze and only made it to third.
Mr. National Ryan Zimmerman had a chance to put Washington on top with a base hit, but shortstop Jimmy Rollins cut the ball off and threw to Chase Utley, who fired to Ryan Howard for the game ending double play.
Looking back, Pedro Feliz's RBI double in the bottom of the eighth turned out to be a much needed insurance run and the game-winner. Shane Victorino reached base on an infield single and scored from first when Feliz drove a ball into the gap in left-center for the 4-2 lead.
John Lannan suffered the loss, his 15th of the year, allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings. 45-year old Jamie Moyer earned the win by tossing six innings of one run ball. Moyer also clinced the 2007 division title last season against Washington.
Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, the Nationals had runners on second and third with nobody out, but only came away with one run. Guzman singled and Zimmerman followed with a double to right to Ryan Madson.
Lastings Milledge hit a shallow fly ball to short center that shortstop Jimmy Rollins caught for the first out. He collided with center fielder Victorino but bounced right up. It was too late to get Guzman tagging from third however.
Both Lannan and Moyer were on cruise control thru the first three innings. Lannan allowed just three base runners to that point and Moyer four.
The Phillies were first to get on the board. In the fourth, Utley and Howard, who drove in seven of the eight runs in last night's 8-4 win, hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Pat Burrell's sac fly put the Phillies up 1-0. A single and walk loaded the bases for Carlos Ruiz and his sac fly scored Howard for the 2-0 lead.
The Nationals quickly got a run back in the fifth on Anderson Hernandez's RBI double. Bernadina, hit a one out single and moved to second on Lannan's sac bunt, scored easily on Hernandez's 16 RBI of the year.
Philadelphia got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Jason Werth smashed his 24th home run of the season, a solo shot to right, giving the Phillies a two-run lead.
Clubhouse Audio: Manny Acta
Postgame Notes
Jamie Moyer, 16-7, matched Hall of Famer Phil Niekro for most wins by a pitcher 45 or older. Niekro, a knuckleballer, had 16 wins at 45 and 46 while pitching for the New York Yankees in 1984-85.
Cristian Guzman, who went 3-5, collected his 57th multi-hit game of the season.
Anderson Hernandez, 3-5, two RBI, picked up his 8th multi-hit effort in 17 starts with the Nationals and raised his average to .321
Roger Bernadina is batting .444 in seven game since August 18th
Clubhouse Audio: Jamie Moyer discusses the Phillies clinching the pennant
Final Linescore
Nationals 3-11-0
Phillies 4-9-0
WP-Moyer (16-7)
LP-Lannan (9-15)
SV-Lidge (41)
HR-Werth (24)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Phillies scoring, 8th inning
Pedro Feliz doubled home Shane Victorino from first to give the Phillies a much needed insurance run. The run put the Phils up 4-2
Nationals scoring, 8th inning
The Nationals weren't able to get much going against Phillies starter Jamie Moyer, but they did manage to get to their bullpen.
Ryan Zimmerman, facing Ryan Madson, doubled Cristian Guzman to third to start the eighth inning. Lastings Milledge hit a shallow fly ball into no-man's land in short center. Jimmy Rollins made an over the shoulder catch before colliding with Shane Victorino. Guzman was able to score on the play to make it 3-2. Washington couldn't do anything else agaist the Phillie reliever.
Clubhouse Audio: Ryan Zimmerman talks about the Nats 4-3 loss to the Phillies
Phillies scoring, 5th inning
Jason Werth, who had Anderson Hernandez's double go off his glove in the top of the inning, allowing Roger Bernadina to score, made up for it in the bottom of the frame.
Werth sent John Lannan's 1-2 fastball into the seats in right for his 24th homer of the season and the Phillies have a two-run lead again, 3-1.
Lannan's final start
John was decent, but his pitch count ran high and Manny Acta had to pull him after five innings. He allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks, but left the game trailing 3-1. It won't go down as a quality start because he didn't go six. Overall a very good season for the young lefty.
5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K, HR. 100 pitches, 62 strikes
Clubhouse Audio: John Lannan discusses his outing in the Nats 4-3 loss to the Phillies
Nationals scoring, 5th inning
The Nationals were finally able to put together two hits and score to cut the Phillies lead in half, 2-1 in the fifth.
Anderson hernandez's double, off the glove of right fielder Jason Werth, scored Roger Bernadina, who hit a one-out single.
Phillies scoring, 4th inning
John Lannan was cruising thru the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit back-to-back to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Pat Burrell's sac fly scored Utley for the 1-0 lead. Shane Victorino singled and Pedro Feliz walked to load the bases. Carlos Ruiz lifted a fly ball deep enough to score Howard and the Phillies lead 2-0.
Lannan thru 3 innings
John is off to a solid start as he looks to keep the Phillies from celebrating an NL East title. He's allowed two hits and a walk, but got a double play to end the second. Lannan is keeping the Phillies hitters off balance by mixing his speeds well.
3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K. 53 pitches
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
2B Anderson Hernandez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Elijah Dukes
1B Aaron Boone
C Wil Nieves
LF Roger Bernadina
P John Lannan
Phillies
SS Jimmy Rollins
RF Jason Werth
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
CF Shane Victorino
3B Pedro Feliz
C Carlos Ruiz
P Jamie Moyer
Game Preview
Nationals (59-100) at Philadelphia (90-70)
Last night, Collin Balester was torched for seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings in the Phillies 8-4 victory.
Ryan Howard hit his Major League leading 48th homer, a three-run shot in the first, and Chase Utley doubled home three runs in Philadelphia's four-run second to make a winner of Joe Blanton, who tossed six effective innings to move the Phillies closer to clinching their second straight NL East title.
Washington, who lost their 100th game, the first time the franchise has lost that many since the Expos 107 in 1976, got an RBI single from Luke Montz, a home run out of Kory Casto and a run scoring single from Cristian Guzman.
Tonight, John Lannan aims for his 10th win of the year while the Phillies counter with 45-yard old Jamie Moyer.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP John Lannan (9-14, 3.86) is coming off a pretty good outing where he allowed four runs, one earned, in seven innings against the Padres last Saturday. An error by Emilio Bonifacio led to three unearned runs in the fifth as San Diego won 6-1.
Lannan has a chance to ruin Philadelphia's post season plans by knocking off the first place Phillies. This is his third start against the NL East front runners this season and he's still looking for his first victory.
In his last start against the Phils on September 2nd, Lannan gave up two runs on five hits in six solid innings, but the Nationals were blanked 4-0. Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each had RBI singles in the third for the only runs Lannan would surrender.
The Phillies pounded Lannan for eight runs on nine hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings in Philadelphia's 8-4 win on July 31st.
Lannan faced the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in his Major League debut last season and earned a no-decision in the Nationals 7-6 win. He gave up five runs, four earned, in 4 1/3 innings.
The young left-hander looks to go above the .500 mark on the road in his career if he can pick up the win tonight. Lannan is 6-6 with a 3.15 ERA in 20 road starts.
LHP Jamie Moyer (15-7, 3.78), the most consistent starter for the Phillies this season, looks to clinch the NL East for the second year in a row. Last year, Moyer was on the mound and shut down the Nationals for 5 1/3 innings, lifting Philadelphia to a division-clinching win on the final day of the regular season.
Moyer, who hasn't lost since August 5th, is 5-0 in his last nine starts and the Phillies are 8-1 in those games. The only loss during that span was to the Nationals on August 21.
This is Moyer's fifth start against Washington this season. He's 2-0 but doesn't have a decision in two starts at Citizens Bank Park. In his career vs. the Nationals, he is 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 19 games, 18 starts.
Leave a comment