Nationals slug their way past Phillies
WASHINGTON -- Danny Espinosa went 3-for-3 with a homer, Stephen Drew had a homer and three RBIs and Daniel Murphy had two doubles and three RBIs as the Washington Nationals hit three homers and thrashed the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 on Friday night.
The three infielders combined for seven hits, including two homers, and six RBIs.
Stephen Strasburg (10-0) allowed five hits and four runs with 10 strikeouts and one walk in seven innings. The 2009 overall first pick in the draft has won 13 decisions in a row dating to last year. He retired the last 14 batters he faced.
The first-place Nationals, who trailed 4-0, have scored 41 runs in their last five games. Tommy Joseph had two homers and four RBIs for the Phillies in the first multi-homer game of his career. His two-run shot in the eighth off Felipe Rivero cut the lead to 9-6.
Espinosa hit his 10th homer of the season -- a solo blast off starter Jeremy Hellickson -- to give the Nationals a 7-4 lead in the sixth. Murphy had his second double in the seventh to drive in a run and build the margin to 8-4, and Drew had an RBI double to make it 9-4.
Hellickson (4-4) gave up nine hits, including three homers, and seven earned runs in six innings. Luis Garcia, a former Washington minor leaguer, took over in the seventh for the Phillies and gave up two runs.
Ben Revere had two hits and scored twice for the Nationals, who were coming off a three-city, nine-game road trip that lasted 11 days.
The Nationals (37-24) had lost six of their previous nine home games. The Phillies (29-32) have lost eight of their last 11.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for the Nationals to get his 16th save of the season.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Cody Asche and a bunt single by Tyler Goeddel that plated Freddy Galvis, who singled in the middle of the rally.
Joseph hit his sixth homer of the year, a two-run shot off Strasburg in the third, to build the margin to 4-0.
But the Nationals got two runs back in the last of the third as Jayson Werth had a two-run double off his former team to make the score 4-2. He drove in Espinosa and Revere, who had each singled.
Washington got back-to-back homers in the fourth by Wilson Ramos and Drew to make it 4-4 off Hellickson. It was the ninth homer of the year for Ramos, who entered the game hitting .345, and Drew began the game with a .364 average against Hellickson.
Murphy had a two-run double in the fifth as the Nationals grabbed a 6-4 advantage.
Strasburg was making the start six years and two years after his MLB debut. He entered the game with a record of 9-0 and a 2.85 ERA.
Strasburg left his last start on Saturday in Cincinnati in the sixth inning with a cramp in his right calf on a muggy day. The Nationals lost -- the first time in 15 starts Washington did not win a game started by the right-hander dating to last year.
NOTES: Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez (right biceps soreness) was put on the 15-day disabled list Friday on the heels of leaving his start on Wednesday after just two pitches. Velasquez is 5-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 12 starts this season. ... The Phillies recalled RHP Luis Garcia from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take the place of Velasquez. ... The Phillies swept a three-game series in Washington in late April by a combined score of 10-3. ... The teams will meet Saturday, with Washington RHP Tanner Roark (4-4, 3.21) facing Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (5-4, 2.65). ... Phillies manager Pete Mackanin was excited about the acquiring top overall draft selection OF Mickey Moniak on Thursday. "He looks like he has a great swing," Mackanin said of the California high schooler. ... SS Carter Kieboom, a high schooler from Georgia, said in a conference call Friday he hopes to decide by Saturday if he plans to sign with the Nationals or head to college at Clemson. Kieboom was the 28th overall pick by the Nationals Thursday and is the younger brother of C Spence Kieboom, who is at Double-A Harrisburg in the Washington system.