The Phils took the weekend series from the Nats, losing one blow out on Saturday, 8-1, before winning another blow out on Sunday, 6-0.

On Saturday, the Nats took the lead in the first as, with the bases loaded, via a single by Ian Desmond, a walk to Adam Dunn, which sent Desmond to second base, a ground out by Ryan Zimmerman, 4-3, which moved both Desmond and Dunn up a base, and a walk to Roger Bernadina, and with two men out, Adam Kennedy receives an RBI walk, forcing in Desmond, giving the Nats a 1-0 lead, while moving both Dunn and Kennedy up a base. The Nats then made it a 3-0 lead as, with the bases still loaded, Ivan Rodriguez hits an RBI single, knocking in both Dunn and Bernadina, while sending Kennedy up to second base. The Nats then added to their lead in the third as, with runners on the corners, and with nobody out, Kennedy hits an RBI single, knocking in Zimmerman, who had earlier doubled, and then went to third on Bernadina’s single, giving the Nats a 4-0 lead, while sending Bernadina, who had just singled, to second base. Three batters later, with the bases now loaded, via an infield single by Rodriguez, moving both Bernadina and Kennedy up a base, and with one man out, Nats’ starter Stephen Strasburg hits into a force out, 4-6, wiping out Rodriguez at second base for the second out of the inning, before Strasburg beats Jimmy Rollins’ throw to first, allowing Bernadina to score, giving the Nats a 5-0 lead, while Kennedy would move up to third as Strasburg would be safe at first. The Phils would get a run back in the fourth as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Ryan Howard, in his first game back from the dl, hits into an RBI ground out, 4-3, knocking in Placido Polanco, who would lead-off the inning with a double, then moved to third on Chase Utley’s ground out, 4-3, making it a 5-1 Nats’ lead. The Nats then put the game away for good in the ninth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Bernadina hits a three-run home run, his eighth home run of the year, scoring Desmond, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second on Dunn’s walk, and Justin Maxwell, who was pinch running for Dunn, giving the Nats an 8-1 lead. That would be the final score as Miguel Batista would end the game by getting pinch hitter Jayson Werth to fly out to center for the game’s final out. 

Kyle Kendrick took the lost as he pitches five and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and four walks, while striking out two. His record is now 8-6 with a 4.58 ERA. J.C. Romero pitches an inning and a third of shut out ball, getting out all four men that he would face, one by strikeout. Jose Contreras pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out a batter. Chad Durbin pitches an inning, giving up three runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out two. Stephen Strasburg receives a no-decision as he pitches four and one third innings, before being taking out because of an injury, as he gives up a run on two hits, while striking out six. Craig Stammen pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit. Doug Slaten gets the win as he pitches one and two-thirds scoreless innings, striking out two. His record is now 3-1 with an ERA of 2.76. Tyler Clippard and Miguel Batista combine for two scoreless innings, giving up a hit (Clippard), and two walks (Batista) between them, while striking out two batters (one each).

The Phils had only four hits in the game, doubles by Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Ben Francisco and a single by Ryan Howard, with Howard knocking in the Phils’ only run on a ground out. The Phils’ offense was easily handled on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Nats tried to take another early lead in the first as Nyger Morgan lead-off the game with a single, stole second and then went to third on Desmond’s ground out, 6-3, with now one man out. But Phils’ starter Roy Oswalt ended the threat by striking out both Dunn, who was called out on strikes, and then Zimmerman swinging. The Phils then took the lead in their half of the first as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Polanco hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Rollins, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Raul Ibanez’s ground out, 6-3, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Phils then added to their lead in the third as, with a man on second, and with two men out, Polanco hits an RBI single, knocking in Oswalt, who had earlier singled, and then went to second on Rollins’ ground out, 1-3, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead. The Phils then took a 4-0 lead in the sixth as, with the bases loaded, via a single to Howard, Werth hitting into a force out, 1-6, wiping out Howard at second, a double by Shane Victorino. with Werth stopping at third and an intentional walk to Carlos Ruiz, and with two men out, Wilson Valdez hits a two-run single, knocking in both Werth and Victorino, while sending Ruiz up to second base. After an hour and forty-four minutes rain delay, the Phils would put the game out of reach in the seventh as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Ibanez hits a two-run bomb to right, his twelfth home run of the year, knocking in Rollins, who had singled before the rain started, making it a 6-0 Phils’ lead. That would be the final score as J.C. Romero would come in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out Bernadina looking, to end the game.

Roy Oswalt gets the win as he pitches seven shut out innings, giving up just five hits and a walk, while striking out eight. His record is now 3-1 (9-13) with a 2.43 (3.22) ERA. Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero pitches two 1-2-3 innings, striking out three between them (Madson (1), Romero (2)). Scott Olsen took the lost as he pitches six innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out three. His record is now 3-6 with a 5.21 ERA. Craig Stammen pitches an inning, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk. Joel Peralta pitches a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one.

The Phils had twelve hits in the game, with Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino and Roy Oswalt each leading the team with two hits apiece, with Rollins and Victorino’s two hits being each a single and a double, while Polanco and Oswalt’s two hits were both singles, with Polanco knocking in two runs, one of them by a sac fly. Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Wilson Valdez had the other four Phils’ hits, with Ibanez’s hit being a two-run home run, while Howard, Ruiz and Wilson’s hits were singles, with Wilson knocking in two runs. The Phils’ offense got rolling yesterday.

The Phils (70-53, 2nd East) with be hosting the Astros (54-69, 4th Central) for four games, starting tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will begin at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils will send to the mound Joe Blanton (5-6, 5.54), who is coming off a win against the Giants on August 18, as he pitched six and a third innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, while striking out seven, in the Phils’ 8-2 win. In his last three starts, his record is 1-0 with two no-decisions, as he pitched nineteen innings, giving up eight runs on twenty-three hits and four walks, while striking out fourteen. He will be trying to even up his record. The Astros will counter with ex-Phil Brett Myers (8-7, 3.11), who is coming off a no-decision against the Mets on August 18, where he pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out four in the Astros’ 3-2 lost. In his last three starts, his record is 0-1 with two no-decisions, as he pitched twenty innings, giving up seven runs on twenty-one hits and four walks, while striking out thirteen. He’ll be trying to make good on his promise of sticking it to his old team, if his new team will be willing to score runs. The Phils will be out to make Myers eat his pre-season statement.