Phillies 11, Nationals 3
Ryan Howard homered and drove in four runs and the Philadelphia Phillies rolled to an 11-3 victory over the visiting Washington Nationals on Saturday.
Roy Oswalt (5-7) allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings for his first win since returning from the disabled list. The righthander made his second start after missing more than six weeks with lower back inflammation.
Raul Ibanez drove in two runs for Philadelphia, which broke open a 2-2 game with five runs in the third and added three more runs in the eighth. The offensive outburst helped the Phillies avoid their first four-game losing streak to Washington.
Ian Desmond, Laynce Nix and Michael Morse each drove in a run for the Nationals. The franchise hasn’t won four straight over the Philadelphia since 2003 – two years before it left Montreal for the nation’s capital.
The Phillies took control by sending 10 men to the plate against John Lannan (8-8) during the decisive third inning. Howard, who homered in the first, had an RBI single and Ibanez, Oswalt and Jimmy Rollins each drove in a run.