in the first inning of a baseball game against
the Washington Nationals,
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009, in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA — Joe Blanton tossed six scoreless innings, Jayson Werth hit a grand slam and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 on Wednesday night.
Blanton (10-7) allowed five hits and struck out seven. The Phillies were one out away from recording three consecutive shutouts for the first time in 40 years when Willie Harris singled in a run off Tyler Walker.
The Phillies beat the New York Mets 1-0 Sunday night behind eight innings from Pedro Martinez and one from Ryan Madson. Cliff Lee tossed a six-hitter in a 5-0 win against the Nationals on Tuesday.
The NL East-leading Phillies reduced their magic number for clinching their third straight division title to 11 with 18 games remaining.
Livan Hernandez (8-11) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. The lowly Nationals are 3-14 against Philadelphia this season.
Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, who have combined for 69 homers, used their legs to produce the first run in the first inning.
Utley singled with two outs and moved to third on Howard's base hit. Howard then broke for second and slid in safely ahead of catcher Wil Nieves' throw. Utley raced home once Nieves released the ball and scored without a throw as shortstop Cristian Guzman reacted slowly after applying the late tag.
It was Howard's seventh stolen base this season. He had two career steals before this year. Utley became the 10th player in franchise history to record 20 steals and 20 homers in the same season.
Werth drove a 1-2 pitch from Jason Bergmann deep to left-center in the seventh for his third career slam and second this year.
NOTES: Philadelphia had four straight shutouts from Aug. 13-16, 1969, according to STATS LLC. ... Phillies LHP J.A. Happ will make his first start since Sept. 2 on Friday at Atlanta. The rookie has been sidelined with an oblique injury. ... Phillies LHP J.C. Romero (elbow) was encouraged by a bullpen session and hopes to return next week. Romero said he'd like to make five relief appearances before the postseason. ... Utley has stolen 23 straight bases, including two last season. ... Nationals C Jesus Flores had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He's expected back by the middle of spring training.
