Brown's Hit In 9th Lifts Phillies Over Nationals
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Domonic Brown hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Monday night.
The Nationals tied it at 4 when Chad Tracy hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth off closer Jonathan Papelbon (1-0). It was the first blown save for Papelbon, who had converted his previous 13 chances.
Ben Revere led off the Phillies' ninth with a single against Fernando Abad (0-2). Revere was running on Jimmy Rollins' one-out single and easily reached third base.
Abad struck out pinch-hitter Steven Lerud for the second out before Brown fisted the winning hit to center. Papelbon was the first player to greet Brown in celebration as he was rounding first base.
Papelbon easily retired the first two batters in the ninth and had Tracy in an 0-2 hole. But Tracy, who pinch-hit in the seventh and stayed in the game, hit his third home run, barely clearing the wall just inside the foul pole in right.
Ryan Howard went 3 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs and Delmon Young had a two-run double for the Phillies, who returned home after losing seven games on a 10-game road trip.
John Lannan, a former mainstay in the Nationals' rotation, made his first start since April 17 after a nearly two-month stint on the disabled list with a strained tendon in his left knee. He allowed six hits and two runs in five innings, striking out four and walking one in his first start against his former club.
Steve Lombardozzi had two hits, including an RBI double, for the Nationals, who have lost three of four.
Howard led off the second with a solo shot to tie it at 1. It was the eighth homer of the season for Howard, who had been mired in a power slump.
The slugger entered with just one homer since May 7, but launched Dan Haren's offering into the second deck deep in right field.
Haren continued his recent struggles and remained winless in his last seven starts (0-5, 6.22 ERA) since May 9. Haren is 0-3 with a 5.82 ERA in six career starts against Philadelphia.
Philadelphia went ahead 3-1 in the third on Young's two-run double to right that just eluded the glove of diving Jayson Werth. Washington pulled within 3-2 in the fourth on Lombardozzi's RBI double and Howard's fifth-inning RBI single put the Phillies back up by two runs.
Ian Desmond's RBI single off Mike Adams in the eighth inning brought Washington within 4-3.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
