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Streaking Phillies finish off sweep of Nationals

Aug 1, 2008 - 5:07 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Shane Victorino reached base four times and extended his hitting streak to 11 games to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night.

Victorino was hit by a pitch in the first inning, reached on a throwing error in the second, beat out a bunt in the fourth, singled in the sixth and eventually scored to give the Phillies a 7-2 lead.

His next time up, Victorino bounced into a 4-6-3 double play. By then, however, the Phillies were well on their way to their fifth consecutive victory and a sweep of this three-game set while handing the Nationals their season-high-matching ninth straight loss.

"Sometimes you just have to create some things," said Victorino, who already has a career-high 34 multi-hit games this season. "Get on base for the guys behind you. I think that's our job, Jimmy (Rollins) and I, to get on base for the guys behind us, and we've been doing that."

The victory moved Philadelphia 10 games above .500 and one game ahead of the idle New York Mets in first place in the National League East.

"It's like the race is getting longer, but now we're on the short end of it," Jimmy Rollins said. "So it's easier to see what's ahead of you. ... The race is a sprint now."

Righthander Kyle Kendrick (9-4) was the latest beneficiary of the Phillies' resurgent offense, allowing two runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Jayson Werth's leadoff home run to left got the Phillies going in the second inning.

Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Ruiz followed with back-to-back singles and both scored courtesy of a wild pitch by Nationals starter John Lannan, a sacrifice bunt by Kendrick, a run-scoring fielder's choice groundout by Jimmy Rollins and a throwing error by Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

Kendrick helped his cause at the plate in the fourth by beating out a dropped third strike, aided by a throwing error on Nationals catcher Jesus Flores. Three pitches later, Rollins parked his eighth homer of the season high in the left-field bleachers and Philadelphia led 5-2.

"You've just got to play the game hard," Kendrick said. "I took off, he made a bad throw, and that was an extra run for us. After the first two games, we definitely wanted to come here and get a sweep. It was huge for us to win tonight."

The Phillies rallied for three more runs with two out in the sixth. After Rollins doubled down the right-field line, Victorino reached on an infield single and Rollins scored on a throwing error on the play by Ronnie Belliard.

"When we get Rollins and Shane on, that kind of sets us up to score runs," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "They proved it the last couple of nights."

Belliard was at third because Zimmerman left after being hit on the right wrist by a pitch in the third inning. X-rays of Zimmerman's hand were negative and he is listed as day-to-day with a contusion.

"It feels better now than it did when I came out," Zimmerman said after the game. "It's just a bruise. ... Hopefully, it will only be a short time."

Philadelphia added two more runs in the sixth on a single by Chase Utley and RBI singles by Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell.

Lannan (6-11) allowed eight runs - six earned - on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven, walked three, hit a batter, gave up two homers and threw a wild pitch.

"I didn't make some pitches when I had to," Lannan said. "I just gave up a lot of runs and a lot of hits against a very good hitting team."

After the game, the Nationals released infielder Felipe Lopez and catchers Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada.

"It's time for us to go in a different direction," Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden said of Lo Duca. "We tried to deal him but we weren't able to do that. I think it's better for him and the club that we both just part ways at this time. I'm rooting for him and I hope he gets it together because he sure does have a lot of physical talent.

"Paul understands. When he came here, he signed to be the everyday catcher so he could develop Jesus Flores. It's not his fault that he broke his hand and got hurt. Jesus came up and was all of a sudden ready for the major leagues. That's not Paul's fault, either. It doesn't do him any good to sit on the bench here and not play and we're in a situation where we want to develop our young players."

The Nationals players, meanwhile, sensed that a long losing season wasn't getting better anytime soon.

"It's been a crazy year for us," Zimmerman said. "It seems like everything that can go wrong has, and everything that could go right hasn't. But you can't look at it like that, though. You can't sit here and pout and feel sorry for ourselves. We have to keep playing hard and play for some pride in these next months."