Nats fall to Phillies 8-4; lose 100th game of the season
Collin Balester and the Nationals had a chance to make things very interesting in the NL East if they could knock off the Phillies on Friday night, but Philadelphia was having none of it.
The Phillies knocked Balester out in just 1 2/3 innings and cruised to an 8-4 win. Ryan Howard crushed his 48th home run, a three-run shot in the first, and Chase Utley's bases clearing double in the second ended the rookie right-hander's night prematurely.
Balester never got on track and the Phillies jumped on him in the first and never looked back. With one out, Jason Werth and Chase Utley hit back-to-back singles, setting the table for Ryan Howard, who leads the Majors in homers and RBI. Howard hammered an 0-1 pitch over the wall in center field for a three-run home run, his 48th of the season.
Luke Montz cut the Phillies lead to 3-1 in the top of the second with an RBI single. It was Montz second RBI of the season.
Philadelphia wasn't satisfied with a two-run lead so they added to it in the home half of the inning.
Greg Dobbs lead-off with a double and it appeared Balester would get out of the inning unscathed, but Jimmy Rollis drew a walk and Werth singled to third to load the bases. Utley followed with a three-run double that just missed clearing the wall in left and the Phillies had a 6-1 lead. Howard drove in Utley with a double off the wall in left for the 7-1 advantage.
Washington wouldn't go away quietly as they scored two unearned runs in the fifth. Pete Orr reached on Howard's fielding error and moved to third on pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina's double. Orr scored on Emilio Bonifacio's sac fly to make it 7-2. Cristian Guzman blooped a single to right to score Bernadina and the Nationals trailed 7-3.
Kory Casto's second homer of the year, and his career, cut the lead to 7-4 in the sixth. The call was reviewed when Charlie Manuel argued that a fan reached over the railing in right and touched it, thus making it a double. The umpires looked at the replay and correctly ruled it a homer.
Three Nationals pitcher's combined to shut out the Phillies from the end of the second thru the sixth before they added an insurance run in the seventh. Utley singled, stole second, moved to third on a fielder's choice and scored on Montz's passed ball to give Philadelphia a four-run cushion, 8-4.
After Casto's home run, four Phillies relievers retired 10 of the last 11 Nationals to close out the win.
Washington's loss, their 100th of the season, was the second straight to the Phillies and second in a row at Citizens Bank Park.
Final Linescore
Nationals 4-6-0
Phillies 8-10-1
WP-Blanton (4-0)
LP-Balester (3-7)
HR-Howard (48), Casto (2)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Phillies scoring, 7th inning
The Phillies scored an run in the seventh to push their lead back to four runs.
Michael Hinckley put runners on the corners before being replaced by Jesus Colome with two-outs. After Shane Victorino stole second, his 34th of the season, Luke Montz's passed ball allowed Chase Utley to score from third to make it an 8-4 game
Nationals scoring, 6th inning
Kory Casto hit his second homer of the season to make it a three-run game in the sixth, but not with out a little controversy.
The ball landed just over the railing in right field and Phillies manager Charlie Manuel argued a fan interfered with it and it should be ruled a double. The umpires reviewed the play and correctly called it a home run.
Nationals scoring, 5th inning
The Nationals scored twice in the fifth to make it a 7-3 game off Phillies starter Joe Blanton.
Pete Orr reached on an error and moved to third on pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina's double. Orr scored on Emilio Bonifacio's sac fly and Bernadina came around to score the second unearned run of the inning on Cristian Guzman's single.
Balester's brutal night
Collin retired only five batters before Manny Acta pulled him for Jason Bergmann. He allowed seven runs on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings. Balester threw 52 pitches and only half for strikes. It's tough when your last start of your rookie season ends on a bad note.
1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 7 R, BB, K, HR.
Phillies scoring, 2nd inning
Collin Balester just didn't have it tonight and the Phillies sent him to an early shower with a four-run second inning.
Chase Utley's three-run double blew the game wide open, giving Philadelphia a 6-1 lead. Ryan Howard, who hit a three-run homer in the first, followed with an RBI double to end Balester's night.
Nationals scoring, 2nd inning
Washington manufactured a run in the second to cut the Phillies lead to 3-1.
Elijah Dukes walked, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a ground out and scored on Luke Montz's single. It was Montzs' second career hit and RBI.
Phillies scoring, 1st inning
Collin Balester got one out before he ran into the heart of the Phillies order and they made him pay.
Jason Werth and Chase Utley hit consecutive singles before Ryan Howard crushed his 48th home run of the year to put Philadelphia up 3-0.
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
2B Emilio Bonifacio
SS Cristian Guzman
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Elijah Dukes
LF Willie Harris
1B Kory Casto
C Luke Montz
3B Pete Orr
P Collin Balester
Phillies
SS Jimmy Rollins
RF Jason Werth
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
CF Shane Victorino
3B Greg Dobbs
C Carlos Ruiz
P Joe Blanton
Game Preview
Nationals (59-99) at Philadelphia (89-70)
Last night, Mother Nature cancelled Fan Appreciation Night at Nationals Park, the final home game of the 2008 season.
Collin Balester, who was scheduled to start in front of the home crowd, will now face the Phillies as the Nationals begin the final series of the year.
Last year, Washington was in Philadelphia for the final weekend of the regular season and dropped two of three, allowing the Phillies to clinch the NL East on the final day of the regular season.
With a one-game lead over the Mets, Washington will try to spoil the Phillies plans for a post-season berth, but it won't be easy as Philadelphia is 45-33 at home and the Nationals are 25-53 on the road, the worst in the Majors.
The Nationals are 6-9 against the Phillies this season and 3-3 at Citizens Bank Park.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Collin Balester (3-6, 4.83) is looking for his first win since August 26th when he beat the Dodgers 2-1. Balester has four no-decisions in his last four outings.
Due to last nights rain out, Balester had his start pushed back to tonight against the Phillies, who he has never beaten. Balester hasn't pitched all that bad against Philadelphia, but a lack of run support leaves him 0-2.
In his last start at Citizens Bank Park, Balester gave up four runs, three earned, on seven hits in six innings in the Phillies 4-0 win. In his only other start against the Phillies, he was on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision. On July 29th, Balster allowed two runs on six hits in six innings.
On the road this season, he is 1-3 with a 4.58 ERA. The lone win came in his Major League debut on July 1st. Since then, Balester is 0-3 with three no-decisions.
RHP Joe Blanton (8-12, 4.79) is undefeated in his last 12 starts, all with the Phillies, but he has only three wins during that span. He was acquired from the A's in mid-July and hasn't lost in a Phillies uniform.
The 27-year-old is facing the Nationals for the third time in a little over a month and he is still looking for his first win. Blanton hasn't had much success against the Nationals this season. He's allowed four runs in each start and lasted a total of nine innings.
On September 3rd, Blanton gave up four runs on six hits and three walks in four innings in the Nationals 9-7 win at Nationals Park. Ryan Zimmerman and Kory Casto had RBI singles in the first. Blanton allowed two walks and a single to start the fifth and his night was over. Two of the three runners scored and both were charged to Blanton.
This is the seventh start at Citizens Bank Park for Blanton. He's 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA and is holding opponents to a .237 batting average.
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