(Best E Casino) - The
Philadelphia Phillies are just one win away from capturing their second straight National League East title and will try for division supremacy this afternoon in the second test of a three-game series versus the
Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia is two games ahead of New York in the standings and trimmed its magic number down to one with Friday's 8-4 victory in the series opener, coupled with the Mets' loss to the Florida Marlins. NL MVP candidate Ryan Howard continued his September success with a three-run homer and four RBI for the Phillies, who can win back-to-back division titles for the first time since taking three in a row from 1976-78 with a win or Mets loss on Saturday.
Chase Utley finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored as the Phillies snapped a two-game skid and won for the 11th time in 14 tries. Starter Joe Blanton gave up four runs -- one earned -- on five hits and a walk in six innings of work to get the win. Four relievers then shut the door the rest of the way with closer Brad Lidge fanning two batters in the ninth.
The Phillies, who reached 90 wins for the first time since posting 97 victories in 1993, will hand the ball to veteran Jamie Moyer today. Moyer is 5-0 in his last nine starts with the Phillies going 8-1 over that stretch. He won his most recent start on Sunday at Florida, tossing six innings of one-run ball in a 5-2 triumph.
Moyer is 15-7 with a 3.78 earned run average this season, including a 2-0 mark in four starts against Washington. The lefty is 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 19 career games (18 starts) versus the Expos/Nationals.
Washington will try to play spoiler once again and has dropped two straight and seven of eight games after last night's setback in South Philly. Cristian Guzman had two hits and knocked in a run for the Nationals, who got a rough outing from starter Collin Balester.
Balester was reached for seven runs on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings to absorb the loss. Five relievers then combined to limit the Phillies to one unearned run and three hits in 6 1/3 frames. Washington reached 100 losses in a season for just the third time in franchise history. Montreal hit the century mark in defeats in 1969 (110) and 1976 (107).
Taking the mound for the Nats on Saturday will be John Lannan, who is 9-14 with a 3.86 ERA in 30 starts. He has lost two of his last three decisions and was reached for four runs -- one earned -- last Saturday versus San Diego in a 6-1 setback.
The left-hander has dropped both of his appearances against Philadelphia this season and is 0-2 with a 6.75 earned run average over three lifetime meetings with the Phillies.
Washington has won three of its last five meetings with the Phillies, who are 10-6 in the season series.
