Tonight's Phillies game went oddly similar to the way last night's went. Washington jumped off to a quick 1-0 right in the top of the first only to see the Phillies put the game out of reach by the 3rd inning. The Phils once again got solid starting pitching for 6 innings, but tonight it was Kyle Kendrick, who brought a career 7+ ERA against the Nationals.
Kendrick, as he seems to have time after time just when it looks like he's about to lose his job, turned a very solid effort going six innings giving up just 2 runs on 6 hits. The bullpen closed it out including another appearance from Ryan Madson and a perfect ninth from Brad Lidge, who notched his 23rd win.
Ryan Howard made history tonight in the bottom of the third when he smacked a 2-run opposite field shot. He became the first Phillie to ever have 5 straight seasons with 30 HRs and 100 RBI. With the homer, Howard also passed Pat Burrell to take over 3rd place on the Phils' all time home run list. That puts him only 7 HRs behind Del Ennis for second place all time, but he'll have a ways to go before he threatens Mike Schmidt's 548.