DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — In their quest to build for next season, the Philadelphia Phillies are making life miserable this year for several contenders in both leagues.
A.J. Burnett scattered six singles over seven innings, Ryan Howard had two RBIs and the last-place Phillies beat Washington 3-1 Saturday to secure their first winning season against the Nationals since 2010.
Dominic Brown homered for the Phillies, who have won their last five games against the NL East leaders and hold a 10-8 advantage in the series that ends Sunday.
Philadelphia has won 12 of its last 17, including two series against Washington and one apiece against Seattle, St. Louis and Atlanta.
“It’s about creating some momentum from two-and-a-half weeks ago and building on that,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. “A lot of it comes from the core players.”
Howard stretched his team-high RBI total to 91, and Brown connected on a 3-0 pitch to make it 3-1 in the sixth.
“We’re trying to finish strong and win baseball games,” Brown said.
The 37-year-old Burnett (8-15) allowed one run, struck out four and walked two. He improved to 4-2 with 3.57 ERA in six outings against Washington this year.
“I was able to make pitches at the right time,” Burnett said. “Threw a lot of balls in there for strikes. Important that I stayed ahead in the count, especially against that lineup.”
It was Burnett’s 400th career start. The right-hander lost his previous six road starts, and his only three wins since June 20 are all against Washington.
“He just goes out there and pitches well,” Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper said. “He locates. He mixes it up a lot. I got some pitches today I thought I could hit and missed. That’s something you just got to tip your cap to. So be it.”
Ken Giles worked a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon got three outs for his 35th save.
Tanner Roark (12-10) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings for Washington, striking out eight and walking one. He has lost his last three starts.
The Nationals finished with seven hits, all of them singles, ending their streak of 13 straight games with a home run.
Over the past few weeks, Philadelphia has proven to be a roadblock in Washington’s run to a division crown.
“Over the last five it hasn’t been good for us,” Nationals manager Matt Williams conceded. “It’s been a case of them pitching really well against us, Burnett especially.”
Before the game, Williams said he would take a closer-by-committee approach while struggling Rafael Soriano attempts to correct some mechanical flaws that have attributed to his 6.98 ERA since the All-Star break. Williams offered no guarantee that Soriano would return to the closer’s role.
Burnett hit the first of four Philadelphia singles in the third inning. The last, by Howard, provided the Phillies with a 2-0 lead.
A sacrifice fly by Anthony Rendon made it 2-1 in the fifth, but Philadelphia got the run back in the sixth when Brown went deep.
PHILLIES DOMINANCE
Philadelphia’s five-game streak against Washington is its longest since a six-game run in 2011. The Phillies went 8-11 against the Nationals last season, 9-9 in 2012 and 8-10 in 2011.
UP NEXT
Their current records don’t show it, but the starting pitchers in Sunday’s series finale — Washington’s Gio Gonzalez (7-9) and Philadelphia’s Cole Hamel (8-6) — rank third and fourth among NL lefties in wins over the last three seasons. Gonzalez has 39 and Hamels has 33.
TOTAL RECALL
After going deep into the bench during Friday’s 11-inning defeat, the Nationals recalled OF Michael Taylor and RHP Ryan Mattheus from Triple-A Syracuse. Both played for Washington earlier this year.
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