Phillies win in 11 after Revere’s tying HR vs Nats

IAN QUILLEN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ben Revere was talking playoffs for the last-place Philadelphia Phillies, a notion just barely more ridiculous than the way he tied the game.

Revere hit his second career homer Friday night, this one with two outs and two strikes in the ninth. He sent the game into extra innings, and the Phillies then seized upon Bryce Harper’s 11th-inning error to complete a 9-8 victory over the Washington Nationals.

“I was trying to hit a double or a triple,” said Revere, the NL batting leader, who has hit both his homers this season with Philadelphia. “I didn’t think of a home run. I don’t know, it’s crazy.”

Maikel Franco drove in his first game-winning RBI on a grounder off Craig Stammen (4-5) in the 11th before Revere singled in Franco for an insurance run.

The Phillies needed it, as Jonathan Papelbon allowed a run in the bottom of the inning while earning his 34th save.

Jake Diekman (4-4) pitched the 10th for the Phillies, who have won eight of their last 11, and four straight against the Nationals.

Philadelphia had trailed 7-2 before scoring twice in the eighth, and then three times in the ninth on Carlos Ruiz’s two-run blast and Revere’s solo shot into the right-field seats. Both homers came off struggling Nationals closer Rafael Soriano.

“We’ve got to go on a super run,” Revere said of the Phillies (65-75), who sit in the NL East basement and trail Milwaukee in the wild card race by 8 1/2 games — with six teams in between. “Everybody talks about playoffs and everything. We want to try to do that. We’re going to make history.”

Revere said it all with a straight face. In reality, his best chance at finishing on top is to win the batting title. The center fielder is 12 for 23 with a home run, triple, two doubles and eight RBI in his last five games and is hitting .316.

Teammates and coaches say they’ve seen hints of home run power from the 26-year-old who has spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues.

“He hits them in BP all day long, so it looked like he was taking batting practice,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. “Big swing at a big time.”

Before the game-tying shot, Revere had 947 career plate appearances on the road without a homer — the most among active players.

Yet there it sailed, off a 2-2 slider as Soriano stood and watched with his hands at his hips. Soriano has allowed at least one run in seven of 12 appearances, and his ERA that was at 1.10 on July 27 has spiked to 3.04.

“Absolutely amazing,” Phillies right fielder Marlon Byrd said. “One career home run, big situation. Second half, he’s just on fire.”

ARMS SAVING RUNS

The Phillies erased two possible Nationals runs on the base paths.

In the first inning, Ruiz’s perfect throw to third arrived just in time to catch Span stealing. Then in the seventh, Domonic Brown threw out Jayson Werth trying to score from third on Harper’s fly out to left.

Brown’s assist stood after a replay review of just over a minute.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LHP Mario Hollands (flexor strain, left elbow) was placed on the 60-day disabled list, but the reliever won’t undergo surgery.

“He’s on six weeks’ rest, at least, from baseball,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. “It’s basically a rest program. So that’s good news.”

Hollands’ spot on the roster was taken by RHP Sean O’Sullivan, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

UP NEXT

Philadelphia’s A.J. Burnett (7-15, 4.40 ERA) faces Washington’s Tanner Roark (12-9, 2.91) on Saturday in the second game of the three-game series.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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