Phillies 3 - 1 Nationals
Final
  for this game

Howard, Phillies edge Nationals to win season series

Sep 7, 2014 - 4:30 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Howard drove in two runs, A.J. Burnett tossed seven solid innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Washington, 3-1, to secure their first winning season against the NL East- leading Nationals since 2010.

Domonic Brown hit a solo homer for Philadelphia, which improved to 10-8 against Washington this season.

"We've been having a lot of fun the last month or two," said Brown. "We have a great group of guys here."

Burnett (8-15) allowed one run on six hits while striking out four for the Phillies, who have won four of five overall. He improved to 12-5 lifetime against the Nationals, including a 4-2 mark this year.

"It's been a case of pitching really well against us," said Nationals manager Matt Williams.

Anthony Rendon drove in the lone run for Washington, which saw starter Tanner Roark (12-10) give up three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over six innings.

The Phillies plated two runs in the third. Burnett, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley all singled to load the bases with two outs. Howard followed with a two- run single to right.

Washington got on the board in the fifth. Asdrubal Cabrera singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on Denard Span's infield single and crossed the plate on Rendon's sac fly.

Brown's homer in the sixth made it 3-1.

Ken Giles tossed a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 35th save of the season.

Game Notes

Roark lost his third straight start ... Prior to Saturday's game, Nationals manager Matt Williams said he will use a closer-by-committee approach over the next few days while struggling Rafael Soriano seeks to correct some mechanical flaws. Soriano blew his seventh save of the season on Friday ... The Nationals had homered in 13 straight games, a club record since they moved to Washington.






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