The Phillies bats bounced back after a quiet night last evening for 11 runs tonight as the Phils routed the Washington Nationals 11-3. Ryan Howard homered and knocked in four runs to give him 95 RBI on the season, which is tops in the majors this season.
The Phillies did their damage with a couple big innings plating five runs in the third and another three in the eighth. Both innings were set up costly Nationals errors. In all, the Nats committed three errors leading to seven unearned runs.
Roy Oswalt got the win and looked good doing it. He allowed three runs over seven innings and struck out five. Mike Stutes made his first appearance since August 8th to pitch the final two frames. John Lannan took the loss for Washington and fell to 1-11 lifetime against the Phils. He gave up seven runs in three innings, although only one was earned. However, it wasn’t as if Lannan was entirely let down by his defense. He did walk five and surrendered four hits over those three innings, including a bases loaded walk to Roy Oswalt.
The Braves lost this evening in Chicago, so that restores the Phillies lead in the NL East to 8.5 games as the Phils improve to 78-41 on the season, five games better than anyone else in baseball. Roy Halladay takes the hill tomorrow as the Phils look for the series win.