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Fightin' Phils try to keep heat on in Washington

The Phillies have been making a living this year by coming from behind. They hope that applies to the National League East as well.

Philadelphia will continue to try to close the gap in the division standings with tonight's continuation of a four-game series with the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium.

Philadelphia trailed by four runs heading into the seventh inning of yesterday's series opener against the Nationals. However, the club rallied for four runs in the seventh -- helped by Jayson Werth's pinch-hit three-run homer -- and then plated the go-ahead run in the eighth to pull out a 7-6 victory.

It was the Phillies' major league-leading 47th come-from-behind victory this season. NL MVP candidate Jimmy Rollins plated the go-ahead run with a double that scored Carlos Ruiz.

Ryan Howard also homered for the Phillies, who have won seven of eight, pulling to within 1 1/2 games of the New York Mets in the NL East while remaining 2 1/2 games behind San Diego in the NL wild card race. The Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 8-7, in 10 innings on Thursday, while the Padres completed a four-game sweep of the Pirates with a 6-3 win.

Phillies starter Kyle Lohse lasted only two innings, surrendering six runs on six hits with two walks. J.C. Romero (2-2) got the win for an inning of scoreless relief and Brett Myers closed the door in the ninth for his 18th save of the season.

Adam Eaton will try to work on improving his 6.36 earned run average in tonight's start for the Phillies. Since beating San Diego on July 20, Eaton has gone 0-3 in eight starts with a 7.27 ERA. That includes a start against the Mets on Sunday that saw the right-hander allow five runs (four earned) and seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. However, Eaton got a no decision and kept his record at 9-9 on the season.

Eaton also got a no decision when he faced the Nats on July 26 and has yet to post a decision in five career starts against them, posting a 4.80 ERA over that span.

The Nationals will send Shawn Hill to the hill tonight. Hill defeated the Marlins on September 10, but then fell in defeat on Sunday against Atlanta after giving up three runs on five hits over five innings of a 3-0 setback. He fell to 4-4 on the season with the loss to go along with a 3.01 ERA.

The right-hander was solid against the Phillies on August 14, holding the club to just one hit and a walk over six shutout innings of a no decision. He also fanned seven and is 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four career starts against Philadelphia.

Ryan Church went 2-for-2 with two RBI on Thursday for the Nationals, who have dropped three of five. Jonathan Albaladejo (1-1) gave up a run on one hit in 1 2/3 innings of relief to take the loss.

Nationals starter Jason Bergmann allowed four hits and two runs in six innings, fanning seven and walking two, and left the contest with a lead.

Philadelphia has won eight of its 12 meetings with Washington this season, including four of six at RFK Stadium.

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