Phillies 3, Nationals 1
PHILADELPHIA -- Pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning on Thursday night and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 3-1, handing Nationals ace Jordan Zimmermann a rare defeat.
The victory was the third in the four-game series by the Phillies, who are immediately behind second-place Washington in the National League East. Philadelphia also won for the fifth time in the first seven games of a 10-game homestand, which the organization considered pivotal to its season.
Kyle Kendrick (8-6) picked up the victory, going seven innings and allowing one run and five hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Antonio Bastardo pitched a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth to secure his 20th save in 24 opportunities, retiring Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche -- the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters in the Washington order.
Darin Ruf doubled leading off the seventh against Jordan Zimmermann (12-4). Carlos Ruiz sacrificed pinch-runner John McDonald to third and Frandsen, batting for Kendrick, lined an 0-2 pitch from Zimmermann into right center field that glanced off the glove of center fielder Denard Span for a double.
Frandsen, who began the night with the most pinch hits and the second-most pinch-hit RBIs in the major leagues, is now 11-for-31 (.355) with 10 RBIs in that role this season.
The Phillies added a run on Michael Young's grounder in the eighth.
Zimmerman, who pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs and eight hits, saw a four-game winning streak come to an end. The Nats had also won his seven previous starts, and began the night 15-3 in his outings.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Ben Revere in the fifth.
NOTES: According to Elias Sports Bureau, Phillies LHP Cliff Lee became on Wednesday the first major league pitcher to allow back-to-back homers in back-to-back innings since Cincinnati RHP Johnny Cueto did so against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 21, 2010. Lee also threw 64 of his 76 pitches for strikes (84.2 percent), the highest strike percentage since Oakland's Bartolo Colon threw 84.9 percent for strikes (79 of 93) against Seattle on July 8, 2012. ... Phillies 2B Chase Utley was charged with three errors in the first four innings. ... Washington RF Jayson Werth extended his hitting streak to eight with a single in the first inning, a play on which Bryce Harper was thrown out at the plate by Phillies LF Domonic Brown.
