Nationals-Phillies Preview

The Philadelphia Phillies haven't lost often to the Washington Nationals, but one of their defeats came last week and caused a bit of a tantrum from manager Charlie Manuel.

The Phillies will send Joe Blanton to the mound Wednesday night for the first time since his worst outing of the year came as the NL East clubs continue a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

Philadelphia (83-60) improved to 13-3 against Washington (50-94) after Cliff Lee pitched a six-hitter in a 6-0 victory Tuesday. The division leaders have won six of eight and reduced their magic number for clinching their third consecutive NL East title to 12 with 19 games remaining.

The Phillies have won nine of 10 against the Nationals, but the lone loss upset Manuel. Thursday's 8-7 defeat at Washington in which Philadelphia trailed by six runs headed to the ninth inning caused the manager to say, "We've been getting outplayed by second division teams."

Philadelphia has won four of five since and Blanton (9-7, 4.11 ERA) will get a chance to redeem himself for his part in Thursday's ugly loss. He saw his streak of 11 straight quality starts end as he yielded a season-high eight runs over 4 2/3 innings to remain winless against Washington this year.

The right-hander is 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in four starts this year against the Nationals. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is 5 for 12 with two homers and four RBIs against him in those games while first baseman Adam Dunn is 4 for 9 with two homers and five RBIs.

Blanton is 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his last seven home starts.

Washington starter Livan Hernandez (8-10, 5.30) will try to defeat the Phillies again after winning Thursday. He ended a personal five-game skid when he yielded two runs over 7 1/3 innings.

The veteran right-hander won for the first time in four starts this year with Washington, improving to 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA. He's 1-1 with a 7.84 ERA in two outings against the Phillies this year.

Hernandez has dominated Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, who is 3 for 21 (.143) with six strikeouts against him. Second baseman Chase Utley, though, has had Hernandez's number, going 11 for 29 (.379).

Carlos Ruiz is 1 for 2 lifetime against Hernandez, and currently represents one of the biggest threats in the Phillies' star-studded lineup. Ruiz doubled twice Monday, including one that drove in three runs in the second inning.

The No. 8 hitter has been hot lately, batting .371 since Aug. 15 to raise his average from .224 to .258.

"He's seeing the ball good, he's being more aggressive and more selective," Manuel said.

Howard, meanwhile, is mired in a 4-for-28 (.143) slump in his last eight games. The first baseman is batting .238 against the Nationals with one hit in his last 14 at-bats.