Fister, Harper and Werth featured in fast and furious 5-2 win

For the first time this season, the Nationals have won back-to-back games after beating the Phillies 5-2. Right-hander Doug Fister pitched at his normal rapid pace, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

"Guys were playing defense," said Fister. "That's the name of my game. I have to go out there and trust those guys and say, 'Here, hit it.' That's what we were doing well and guys were playing defense behind me."

Speed was the theme of this affair that lasted just 2 hours, 16 minutes. Fans at Nats Park were still in the beer lines when third baseman Yunel Escobar launched the first pitch of the night from Phillies starter Cole Hamels deep over the center field fence. It was Escobar's first homer of the year and fifth of his career coming in the leadoff spot.

In the fifth, center fielder Michael A. Taylor smacked a high fastball from Hamels over the wall to start the inning and push the Nats back in front. For Taylor, it was a bit of redemption after committing a costly error an inning before that led to the Phillies' second run.

"I mean, I'm not gonna even tell you what happened because it will sound like an excuse. I just dropped it," said Taylor of the liner by Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz in the third.

The Nats again would not let Hamels settle in to start the sixth as left fielder Jayson Werth smoked a stand-up double to straightaway center to lead off the inning. Right fielder Bryce Harper followed with a walk setting the stage for the game's most electrifying play. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman roped a double to right field. Werth hesitated to see if the ball was going to fall. By the time he took off, Harper was already on his heels. The two rounded third, almost like they were running the last leg of a relay race with no intention of stopping for third base coach Bob Henley's sign.

"Once I realized that he wasn't gonna catch it, I knew where Bryce was. He was right there," said Werth. "And I came around third and Henley put the stop sign up and so when I crossed home plate I was surprised to see Bryce right behind me. But, hey, run 'til they tag you."

Hamels finished the inning, but would take the loss as the Philies couldn't muster any more offense.

"He was tough early," said Werth of Hamels. "The ball was moving a lot. It seemed like he was having a tough time controlling it the first few innings, but it was effective. We jumped a first-pitch heater for a double. Bryce worked a good walk and Zim hit that double to get us going. You just gotta wait him out. He's tough. He's a veteran guy that knows how to pitch, knows what he's doing. We're just lucky enough to hit some balls and get some runs."

Nationals manager Matt Williams was pleased to see his bats swinging aggressively against Hamels.

"He's been tough on us, tough on everybody, but especially us," he said. "We got opportunities. We created some opportunities for ourselves. Wilson with the broken-bat hit to tie it and then the big swing from Zim. He stayed on a fastball away and hit it well. We just want to keep creating those opportunities. If we do that, then at some point we're going to come through."

Meanwhile, Werth didn't have an answer for why the Nats offense has suddenly broken out to the tune of 22 runs over the past three games after struggling mightily in the first eight.

"I don't know. It don't matter. We're a good team. We got a good lineup. We got a good group of guys," Werth said. "We're just grinding out games, grinding out at-bats. We'll be fine. We just gotta keep going and play the game were accustomed to playing. I think Denard's (Span) getting close and I think Tony's (Anthony Rendon) feeling better, too. So to get everybody back will definitely help. We got some guys trying as hard as they can. It's fine. We're doing good."