Desmond's Slam Leads Nats Over Phillies
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ian Desmond was one close call away from his fourth strikeout of the night before he got another chance.
He didn't miss it.
Desmond hit a grand slam in the 11th inning and the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 Wednesday night, avoiding a three-game sweep.
Jayson Werth's RBI single with two outs in the ninth tied it off Jonathan Papelbon, who blew a save for the second time in three nights after starting the season 13 for 13.
Starters Kyle Kendrick and Gio Gonzalez both were outstanding, but wound up with no-decisions.
Kendrick allowed one run and two hits, striking out six in 7 2-3 innings. Gonzalez gave up two runs and two hits, tying a career-high with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. He didn't allow a hit after the second batter.
Ryan Zimmerman hit a one-out double off Mike Stutes (2-1) in the 11th. After Adam LaRoche was intentionally walked, Werth walked to load the bases. Desmond took a 1-2 pitch that had manager Charlie Manuel screaming at plate umpire Alfonso Marquez from the dugout.
"It looked like it could've been a strike," Manuel said.
Desmond drove the next pitch out to left-center.
"I was adjusting all night," Desmond said. "I had too many long swings. I just wanted to see the white ball and put the barrel on it."
Drew Storen (2-1) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the win.
"We needed to show the Phillies we're still hanging around," Nats manager Davey Johnson said.
Papelbon was a strike away from securing a save Monday night before allowing a tying homer to Chad Tracy. The Phillies won it in the bottom half on Domonic Brown's RBI single with two outs.
Denard Span reached on an infield to start the Washington ninth. He went to second when LaRoche walked with two outs. Werth followed with a single to left to score Span.
"As a closer, it's important for me to finish it off for the starters," Papelbon said. "It's a tough pill to swallow. I still got to make the pitch to Werth."
Michael Young hit a two-run homer to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the first. He surpassed 1,000 career RBIs on the homer, becoming the 242nd player in major league history to reach that total. RBIs became an official stat in 1920.
The Phillies didn't get another hit until Carlos Ruiz singled with two outs in the 10th.
Kendrick retired 16 straight before walking Zimmerman with one out in the seventh. Zimmerman went to second on a groundout and scored on Werth's line-drive single.
Ben Revere hit a single to lead off Philadelphia's first, extending his hitting streak to 10. Young then connected for just the third time this season.
Gonzalez got six of his strikeouts on Ryan Howard and Brown, who is second in the NL with 19 homers.
"I think that's one of the best game we've had as a team all year," Gonzalez said. "We battled, made adjustments and came out on top."
Coming off his worst outing of the season — seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings at Colorado — Kendrick controlled the Nationals with a sharp sinker. He got 13 outs on grounders.
Kendrick has been Philadelphia's second-best starter behind Cliff Lee and has allowed two runs or less in 10 of his 15 starts.
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