PHILLIES NEWS

The Phils finished off the regular season and their series with the Nationals this afternoon. Having already clinched the division yesterday, today's game was a comfortable meaningless affair. Kyle Kendrick got the start for the first time in a while, and was rocked a bit, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in just 4 innings of work. Meanwhile, the Phils mostly reserve bats jumped out early with 4 runs in those 4 innings and thus would need the bullpen, virtually all underused middle relievers for today, to hold the lead. Now onto the game. In bottom of the 1st, Eric Bruntlett singled and scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead. In the top of the 3rd, Luke Montz slammed his first major league homer to knot it up at 1. In the top of the 4th, Kory Casto doubled in a run and scored on a single by Alberto Gonzalez for a 3-1 Nat's lead. In bottom of the 4th, Tad Iguchi slapped a 2 run single and scored on a double by Bruntlett for a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the 6th, So Taguchi tripled in a run for a 5-3 lead. In the top of the 8th, Lou Marson slugged a 2 run homer, the first of his major league career, and Matt Stairs followed him with a solo shot for an 8-3 lead. Finally, in the top of the 9th after allowing a couple baserunners, Clay Condrey closed out the Nats for the 8-3 win. So the Phils finish the season at 92-70 overall and now it's onto the playoffs and a date with the wild card champion Milwaukee Brewers.