Gomes plunked in 10th to clinch a series win The Nationals were down to their final strike. Thousands of Philadelphia Phillies fans in attendance rose to their feet, clapping and cheering for that last out and a series win.
Instead, Washington shortstop Ian Desmond short-circuited the celebration when he ripped a two-strike pitch from reliever Antonio Bastardo into the stands in left field to tie the game. With the Phillies’ partisans quieted, the Nats sent them home unhappy, too. Washington loaded the bases in the 10th, and a Brad Lidge pitch hit Jonny Gomes in the right elbow to drive home the clinching run in a 5-4 win Sunday at Nationals Park.
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And so Washington (61-64) grabbed an improbable series victory from baseball’s best team with a pair of dramatic walk-off wins. Ryan Zimmerman had already produced a game-ending grand slam in the ninth on Friday. The Nats have won five of their last seven games against the Phillies, whose dedicated fans swelled attendance in the District this weekend to 124,253 over three games.
| Nationals notes |
| » Washington outfielder Jayson Werth struck out three times, twice with men on base. He has struck out 127 times in 2011. He did single during the ninth-inning rally, however. |
| » Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins left in the third inning with a right groin strain suffered when he spun and threw out Jesus Flores on an infield grounder to start the second inning. He is day-to-day. |
| » Philadelphia reliever Michael Schwimer made his major league debut in front of friends and family. A Fairfax County native, Schwimer attended St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes and the University of Virginia. |
“It’s fun to play in that atmosphere,” Zimmerman said. “Obviously, we’d like it to be the majority of our fans in the future. But if you want to get fans like that you’ve got to win. And they’ve won World Series. They go to the playoffs every year. It gives us something to shoot for.”
Washington had a chance to generate a big inning against Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay in the first. Desmond led off with a double, Rick Ankiel beat out an infield hit, and Zimmerman drove home a run with a sacrifice fly. But while Danny Espinosa came through with a run-scoring single — his first RBI since July 17 — Halladay escaped with minimal damage.
It took the Phillies two batters to tie the game as Carlos Ruiz launched a two-run homer in the second. Chase Utley followed with a solo homer in the third. And Halladay settled down, retiring 10 of 12 batters at one point with no runners reaching scoring position. So the Nats weren’t upset about a 1-hour, 11-minute rain delay in the top of the sixth. At 83 pitches, that was it for Halladay.
With him gone, Washington greeted reliever Michael Schwimer rudely. Espinosa homered to center to tie the game at 3-3. But Schwimer retired nine of the next 10, and his teammates picked him up. In the ninth, Nats closer Drew Storen walked Ibanez with one out. Base hits by Ruiz and Michael Martinez drove home the go-ahead run — though it wouldn’t hold.
“Last night was a hard night’s sleep for me,” said Desmond, who was 0-for-4 and dropped a pickoff throw in the fourth inning Saturday that eventually cost Washington two runs in a 5-0 loss. “I told myself today I’m going to come out and put that behind me. When I touched first base [after the homer], I put my hand up because I was thinking, ‘Yes, that’s how you come back.’ That’s why you don’t give up.”
