Recap: Philadelphia vs. Washington
Sports Network | September 28, 2008
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - A day after the Phillies locked up their second straight NL East title, Lou Marson homered to help the Philadelphia reserves close out the regular season with an 8-3 win over the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
So Taguchi collected three hits and knocked in three runs for the Phillies (92-70), who rested many of their regulars in preparation for the postseason. Marson, making his major league debut, went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Starter Kyle Kendrick, who fell victim to the dreaded sophomore slump this year, gave up three runs on four hits in four innings of work. The young right-hander finished the 2008 campaign with an 11-9 record and a 5.49 earned run average. Last season, Kendrick went 10-4 and posted a 3.87 ERA.
Les Walrond (1-1) tossed two scoreless innings to record his first win in the majors.
Philadelphia, which has won six of eight and 13 of its last 16 games, will open postseason play Wednesday at home against either Los Angeles or Milwaukee. Cole Hamels will start Game 1 of the NL division series for the Phillies.
Luke Montz hit a solo home run for the Nationals (59-102), who ended the season on a four-game losing streak. Odalis Perez (7-12) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings before leaving the game due to nausea and light-headedness.
Philadelphia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Eric Bruntlett had a one-out single, advanced to third on a double by Tadahito Iguchi and raced home when Perez uncorked a wild pitch.
Montz's first career home run, a leadoff shot to left, tied the game in the game third, and Washington added two more runs in the fourth. Anderson Hernandez and Kory Casto stroked consecutive doubles to start the inning. A groundout moved the runner to third and, with the infield drawn in, Alberto Gonzalez slapped a base hit up the middle to give the Nats a two-run advantage.
The Phillies, though, regained the lead with a two-out rally in the home fourth. Marson's first career hit -- a single -- prolonged the inning and pinch-hitter Jayson Werth followed with a single. After Werth swiped his 20th base of the season, Taguchi ripped a two-run single to center. Bruntlett's RBI double drove in the go-ahead run.
Taguchi's RBI triple in the sixth followed a pinch-hit single by Ryan Howard. Marson and Matt Stairs clubbed back-to-back homers in the eighth to make it an 8-3 game.
Philadelphia compiled a 12-6 mark against the Nats this year...Both clubs left seven men on base...Attendance was 44,945.
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