Nats beat Phillies 9-7; win third straight series
The series finale between the Phillies and Nationals was a back and forth affair. You got the feeling that Washington, because they are the home team, would win the game since they had the final at bat.
Washington didn't wait until the bottom of the ninth because they exploded for four runs in the eighth to dump the Phillies 9-7 and take the series, their third straight, two games to one.
Ronnie Belliard's pinch-hit, RBI single, off Chad Durbin, broke a 5-5 tie and Cristian Guzman's bases-loaded double broke the game wide open.
Kory Casto started the eighth with a single. He was replaced by Pete Orr as the pinch-runner, who moved to second on a wild pitch. Roger Bernadina singled to put runners on the corners and set the table for Belliard's run-scoring hit.
J.C. Romero replaced Durbin and walked Emilio Bonifacio to load the bases. Guzman cleared them with a double to the gap in left-center. Durbin was charged with all three runs and the loss.
The Phillies mounted a mini-rally in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough. Defensive replacement Matt Stairs doubled home Shane Victorino and Chase Utley's sac fly scored Stairs to make it 9-7. Joel Hanrahan struck out Jason Werth to end the threat and the game.
Philadelphia jumped out to a 2-0 lead off Odalis Perez in the first. With one-out, Perez hit Chase Utley and one batter later, Ryan Howard hit a 2-run blast, his 38th of the season.
Washington got both runs back in the home half of the inning off Joe Blanton. Cristian Guzman hit a one-out single and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's double. Three batters later, Kory Casto singled Zimmerman home to tie the game 2-2.
The Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the third when center fielder Lastings Milledge misplayed a fly ball off the bat of Utley. Jimmy Rollins was on second, after a single and wild pitch, and he scored easily on the triple by Utley.
Milledge froze on the line drive, took one step in and began to retreat, but it was too late. He did manage to get leather on it, but it dropped in for the three-base hit.
Washington was able to load the bases on Blanton with nobody out in the fifth, on two walks sandwiched around a single. Phillies manager Charlies Manuel pulled Blanton and sent in Ryan Madson.
Madson, facing Milledge with the infield playing half way, got a ground ball to first. Ryan Howard, screened by Zimmerman, got the force out at second. Emilio Bonifacio, who singled to start the inning, scored to tie the game 3-3.
Elijah Dukes followed with a grounder to third. Pedro Feliz got the force out at second, but Milledge's hard slide prevented Utley from throwing to first. Guzman scored to put the Nationals up 4-3.
The lead for Washington didn't last long however. Marco Estrada started the sixth inning by giving up a single to Jason Werth. Howard followed with his second two-run homer of the night, giving the Phillies the 5-4 lead. It was Howard's fifth multi-homer game of the season and 17th of his career.
Zimmerman's two-out, solo home run in the seventh tied the game. It was his 11th of the season and second in three games.
Postgame Notes
The Nationals have won 8 of 9 and 10 of their last 13. By taking 2 of 3 from Philadelphia, Washington has won 3 straight series for the first time since April 25-May 4 (vs. Chicago, vs. Atlanta and vs. Pittsburgh). The Nationals went 8-1 on the 9-game homestand. Washington won a series from Philly in Washington, DC for the first time since taking 2 of 3, September 26-28, 2006.
With a pair of singles and a bases-clearing double, Cristian Guzman established a franchise single-season mark with eight consecutive multi-hit games. During that span, Guzman is batting at a .538 (21-for-39) clip with eight runs, five doubles, one triple, one homer and 10 RBI. The last DC-based player to post a multi-hit effort in eight consecutive games was Hall-of-Famer Joe Cronin in June of 1933.
Ryan Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and two RBI. Zimmerman has now hit safely in his last 9 games. During the streak, he is batting .417 (15-for-36) with four doubles, three homers and eight RBI.
Since returning from the DL on August 27, Elijah Dukes is batting .321 (9-for-28) with eight runs, four doubles, two homers, seven RBI, six walks and a .441 OBP in eight games.
Final Linescore
Phillies
Nationals 9-13-0
WP-Rivera (5-5)
LP-Durbin (5-4)
HR-Howard 2 (39), Zimmerman (11)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Nationals scoring, 8th inning
Ronnie Belliard broke a 5-5 tie, in the eighth, with a pinch-hit RBI single, off Chad Durbin, to put the Nationals up by a run.
Kory Casto lead-off with a single and he was replaced by pinch-runnr Pete Orr. After Wil Nieves failed to sacrifice Orr to second, Roger Bernadina singled to put runners on the corners. Belliard jumped on the first pitch from Durbin and lined into left field, scoring Orr with the go-ahead run.
After Emilio Bonifacio walked to load the bases, Cristian Guzman unloaded them with a three-run double and the Nationals have a 9-4 lead.
Nationals scoring, 7th inning
Ryan Zimmerman's 11th home run of the season, a solo blast to deep center off Chad Durbin, tied the game 5-5 in the seventh.
Durbin, a right hander, replaced Scott Eyre, a lefty, to face Zimmerman. Zimmerman jumped on a 1-1 slider and hit it to the deepest part of the ballpark.
Eyre had retired the first two Nationals before Charlie Manuel replaced him.
Phillies scoring, 7th inning
As fast as the Nationals loaded the bases and scored two runs in the fifth, to take a 4-3 lead, Marco Estrada gave it back in the sixth.
Jason Werth greeted Estrada with an infield single to short. Ryan Howard, who hit a two-run homer in the first, hit his second two-run shot to put the Phillies back on top 5-4. It was Howard's' 39th long ball of the year and fifth multi-homer game of the season.
After Pat Burrell singled off Estrada, Manny Acta had seen enough of the rookie right-hander and replaced him with Jesus Colome. Colome retired the next three Phillies in order to end the inning.
Nationals scoring, 5th inning
The Nationals loaded the bases on Joe Blanton to start the fifth before Phillies manager Charlie Manuel pulled him for Ryan Madson.
Madson got two ground balls that he hoped for, but neither one led to a double play and the Nationals scored twice to take a 4-3 lead.
Lastings Milledge grounded to first, but Ryan Howard hesitated and couldn't get Emilio Bonifacio at the plate. He settled for the force out at second. The next batter, Elijah Dukes, hit a grounder to third. Pedro Feliz got the force at second, but Milledge's slide took out Chase Utley and he wasn't able to get a throw off and Cristian Guzman scored the go-ahead run.
Odalis Perez's average night
Perez pitched five good innings, but his pitch count ran high and Manny Acta decided to replace him to start the sixth. After giving up a run in the third, Perez retired eight of the last nine batters he faced. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five. Perez will get his 10th no-decision of the season.
5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 K, HR, WP. 93 pitches, 65 strikes.
Phillies scoring, 3rd inning
Lastings Milledge misjudged another fly ball and it cost the Nationals a run in the third inning.
With Jimmy Rollins on first, Chase Utley hit a liner right at Milledge. He took a step in, then to his right and finally started back. The ball ate him up and Milledge barely got leather on it as it fell in for an RBI triple, giving the Phillies the 3-2 lead.
This is the third time in the last few weeks that Milledge misplayed a fly ball that led to a run.
Perez thru 3 innings
Odalis gave up the big blast in the first, to Ryan Howard, but he's settled down and found a decent groove. The defense did him in in the third. He allowed a one-out single to Jimmy Rollins and an RBI triple to Chase Utley. Utley's hit should've been an out, but Lastings Milledge misplayed the liner and it cost Perez.
3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K, HR, WP. 55 pitches, 39 strikes
Nationals scoring, 1st inning
Ryan Zimmerman's double and Kory Casto's single, tied the game at 2-2 after the first inning.
Cristian Guzman blooped a single over third baseman Pedro Feliz's head and scored on Zimmerman's double to right. After Elijah Dukes walked, Casto singled home Zimmerman to tie the game 2-2.
Phillies scoring, 1st inning
Odalis Perez may as well have put the ball on a tee for Ryan Howard becuase that's what the slider he hung to the Phillies clean-up batter must have looked like.
Perez hung a 2-2 slider over the fat part of the plate and Howard jacked it to right-center for a 2-run homer, his 38th of the year. Chase Utley, who injured Jesus Flores during a collision at the plate during last night's game, was hit by the first pitch from Perez.
Starting Line-ups
Phillies
SS Jimmy Rollins
2B Chase Utley
CF Jason Werth
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
3B Pedro Feliz
C Chris Coste
RF Eric Bruntlett
P Joe Blanton
Nationals
2B Emilio Bonifacio
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Elijah Dukes
1B Kory Casto
C Wil Nieves
LF Roger Bernadina
P Odalis Perez
Game Preview
Philadelphia (76-63) at Nationals (53-86)
Last night, the Nationals' seven-game winning streak came to a grinding halt in their 4-0 loss to the Phillies. The shutout was the 20th of the season for Washington.
Cole Hamels tossed 7 1/3 innings of five-hit ball to earn his 12th win of the year. John Lannan's 19th quality start in 27 outings wasn't enough to keep Washington's winning streak in tact. Lannan gave up two runs in six innings but fell to 8-13.
Besides losing the game, Washington lost starting catcher Jesus Flores with a sprained left ankle. Flores was injured in a collision at the plate with Chase Utley in the third inning.
Flores was placed on a stretcher and carted off the field. An MRI taken Wednesday morning confirmed a left ankle sprain. After Tuesday's game, Washington selected catcher Luke Montz from Triple-A Columbus, though Flores is expected to return to the lineup this season.
The Nationals, who swept their two previous series, can still win the three-game set vs. the Phillies with a win tonight.
Tonight, Odalis Perez goes against Joe Blanton.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Odalis Perez (6-10, 4.14) snapped a three-game winless streak by beating the Braves 7-3 last Friday night at Nationals Park.
Perez gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He got out of a first-inning, bases-loaded, one-out, jam by getting Yunel Escobar to ground into the inning ending double play.
After that rough first, Perez allowed just one hit in the next three innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Leading 5-0, Perez gave up a 2-run homer to pinch-hitter Greg Norton and an RBI double to Martin Prado. He settled down before allowing a single and a walk in the seventh, when Manny Acta pulled him for Charlie Manning.
The veteran lefty is making his first start against the Phillies since July 21, 2005. As a member of the Dodgers, he beat Philadelphia 1-0 by tossing seven scoreless innings of three hit ball. Perez walked one and struck out seven.
Perez, who has been solid at Nationals Park this season, is making his 14th start for the DC faithful. He's 2-5 with a 2.57 ERA and holding opponents to a .240 batting average.
RHP Joe Blanton (6-12, 4.19), making his ninth start for the Phillies, is 1-0 with a 3.92 ERA in his eight starts since the trade with the Oakland A's. Four of those outings have been quality starts; three have been mediocre; and one was cut short due to a rain delay.
Against the Cubs last Friday, Blanton gave up two runs on two hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Philadelphia lost the game 3-2 when the bullpen gave up a run in the seventh.
Blanton faced the Nationals on August 19th at Citizens Bank Park and received a no-decision in the Phillies 5-4 win. He gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings.
Willie Harris hit a solo homer in the first and Jesus Flores had an RBI single in the fourth to put Washington up 2-0. Ryan Zimmerman tripled home a run and Ronnie Belliard singled home Zimmerman for a 4-1 lead and put an end to Blanton's night. Jason Werth's solo homer in the eighth, off Steven Shell, proved to be a game winner.
Blanton faced the Nationals, while pitching for the A's in June of 2005 and took the loss in the Nationals' 4-3 win. He gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings.
Blanton, 4-3 with a 5.28 ERA in 10 road starts this season, is 1-0 with a 4.56 ERA in four starts with the Phillies outside of Philadelphia.
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