Chase Utley homered twice, Ryan Howard hit an upper-deck shot and a three-run double and Philadelphia beat the host Washington Nationals 8-4 Saturday to send the NL wild-card chase down to the regular season’s final day.
Philadelphia (87-74) trails the Houston Astros (88-73) by one game. Houston stayed ahead by beating the Cubs 3-1. A Houston victory Sunday would give it the league’s final playoff spot, no matter what Philadelphia does.
But if the Phillies and Astros finish with matching records, they would meet in a one-game playoff Monday in Philadelphia. The Phillies haven’t been to the postseason since 1993.
Brett Myers (13-8) had a career-high 12 strikeouts while limiting Washington to three runs on six hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings.
Jimmy Rollins slapped a double just inside the bag at first on the game’s first pitch to extend his hitting streak to 35 games, tied for the ninth longest in major-league history. Kenny Lofton singled Rollins home, and after John Patterson (9-7) walked two to load the bases, Howard came through.
Patterson retired 12 of the next 13 batters, until Lofton singled in the fifth ahead of Utley’s two-run homer. Utley added No. 28 on a solo shot to right in the seventh inning.
In between Utley’s shots, Howard hit his 22nd homer–tops among all rookies.
Extra innings
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cincinnati Reds are the 16th team in history to hit and allow 200 homers in a season. . . . Jason Bay could become the first Pittsburgh Pirates player to hit .300 with 30 homers, 100 RBIs, 40 doubles, 20 steals and 100 runs. . . . San Francisco’s Barry Bonds has shut it down for the year to rest his surgically repaired right knee.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES
RESULTS, SYNOPSIS
Arizona 2 at San Francisco 1
W: Medders (4-1)
L: Benitez (2-3)
S: Valverde (15)
Royce Clayton lined tie-breaking double in 11th inning for his 4th hit. D’backs won season-best 7th straight game. Tony Clark hit 1st-inning sac fly. Arizona wrapped up 2nd place in West.
Cincinnati 6 at St. Louis 9
W: Flores (3-1)
L: Simpson (0-1)
S: Isringhausen (38)
Larry Walker hit 2 HRs as Cardinals moved within a game of becoming only 100-win team. Though limited to 99 games because of herniated disc in neck, Walker has 15 HRs, 52 RBIs.
Colorado 1 at New York 3
W: Seo (8-2)
L: Esposito (0-2)
S: Hernandez (4)
David Wright hit 27th HR. Mets got 12th win in 15 games. Mets are assured of best record since going 94-68, reaching World Series in 2000. Jae Seo allowed 6 hits in 6 innings.
Milwaukee 1 at Pittsburgh 5
W: Wells (8-18)
L: Ohka (11-9)
Kip Wells allowed just 1 earned run in 6 2/3 innings to avoid becoming Pittsburgh’s 1st 19-game loser in 20 years. Craig Wilson went 2-for-3 with double, RBI for Pirates.
Philadelphia 8 at Washington 4
W: Myers (13-8)
L: Patterson (9-7)
Nationals’ John Halama’s pitching hand (left) was bruised by shot off Kenny Lofton’s bat in 6th inning. Ryan Church’s homer was 1st since he hit 2 at Texas on June 18.
Atlanta 4 at Florida 6
W: Resop (2-0)
L: Kolb (3-8)
S: Jones (40)
Josh Willingham, Lenny Harris both had 2-run singles with 2 outs in 8th inning. Todd Jones became 4th Marlins pitcher to reach 40 saves in season. Game was delayed 3 hours 10 minutes by rain.
Los Angeles 2 at San Diego 1
W: Broxton (1-0)
L: Park (4-3)
S: Sanchez (8)
Padres (81-80) enter playoffs with lowest winning percentage for division winner in non-strike season. Previous lowest winning percentage was ’73 Mets, who won East at 82-79 (.509).
