Nationals power past Phllies, Lee
PHILADELPHIA -- Even though his team was facing Philadelphia Phillies ace Cliff Lee on Wednesday night, Washington manager Davey Johnson was feeling good about the Nationals' chances.
"I liked the way we took batting practice," Johnson said after his team hit back-to-back homers off Lee in back-to-back innings en route to a 5-1 victory over the Phillies. "We were aggressive in batting practice, and we took that into the game."
Asked to explain himself further, Johnson said, "Sometimes we come into batting practice and hit the ball to right field. Today we were hitting it on the rooftops. They knew who was out there (for the Phillies)."
Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos, the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters in the Washington lineup, hit consecutive homers in the fifth, and Ryan Zimmerman and ex-Phillie Jayson Werth did so in the sixth for the Nationals, who had lost the first two games of a four-game series.
That barrage came in support of Gio Gonzalez (7-3), who allowed one run and six hits over seven innings on his way to his fourth straight victory. He struck out five and walked two while throwing 117 pitches, 74 for strikes.
It equaled the most homers ever allowed in a game by Lee (10-3), who saw an eight-game winning streak come to an end. He also surrendered four against Milwaukee on July 24, 2012, and four against Baltimore on Aug. 21, 2010, the latter while pitching for the Texas Rangers.
"All four homers felt like decent pitches," Lee said. "It's one of those deals when it's hot here, the ball carries. They put some good swings on decent pitches and hit them out of here."
Two of the homers -- those by Rendon and Zimmerman -- came on 0-2 fastballs from Lee.
"I'm sure he didn't want them on the good part of the plate," Manuel said.
Lee didn't agree.
"I felt like they were decent pitches," he said again. "They're going to look bad when you give up home runs, but a lot of times those are outs -- more times than not."
Lee, who had allowed just nine homers in his previous 131 2/3 innings, threw 76 pitches in seven innings of work, 64 for strikes. Ramos hit a 1-0 fastball, while Werth blasted the first pitch he saw, an 87 mph cutter.
It was the 11th homer of the season for Zimmerman, and the 10th for Werth. Rendon and Ramos each hit their fourth homer.
The Nats added an unearned run in the ninth.
Darin Ruf hit his first homer of the season for the Phillies, a solo shot in the seventh. Philadelphia put two runners on with no one out in the third and fifth against Gonzalez, but could not score. Carlos Ruiz and pinch hitter Kevin Frandsen also followed Ruf's homer with singles, but Gonzalez ended his night's work by retiring Ben Revere on a fly to left.
"The defense made some great plays for me, and the offense came alive and scored some big runs," Gonzalez said, "especially against a tough guy like Cliff Lee. It was good to see the team go out there and battle, and do what they did."
NOTES: Wednesday marked the fifth and sixth times this season the Nationals have hit back-to-back homers. ... Lee had not lost since May 1 when Cleveland beat him, 6-0. ... Lee also suffered his first loss in six decisions to a National League East opponent. ... Phillies 1B Ryan Howard underwent surgery on the medial meniscus in his left knee Wednesday. As previously announced, he will miss six to eight weeks. ... Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was asked once again before the game about the prospect of the team being sellers at the July 31 trade deadline. "When the season starts, I've probably never been a seller," he said. "I look at it, until we're eliminated, we've got a chance." ... Philadelphia GM Ruben Amaro told reporters that unless the team goes on a long winning or losing streak, it probably would be a last-minute decision as to whether the team looks to trade off or acquire players. He also said that at present he is more inclined to seek bullpen help. ... Phillies reliever Luis Garcia pitched a scoreless inning in his major league debut.
