Howard breaks Phillies' single-season HR record in loss

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Philadelphia Phillies certainly had their chances for a win that would move them into a tie for first place in the NL wild-card race.

Philadelphia was one strike away from the victory in the ninth before blowing that. The Phillies took the lead again in the 10th and needed just two outs to lock up in the victory in the bottom half. Instead, they watched Washington manufacture two runs, the final one coming when Marlon Anderson scored on a bizarre wild pitch to give the Nationals a 6-5 victory Thursday night, overshadowing Ryan Howard's franchise record 49th homer.

Elias Says

Howard Ryan Howard couldn't have done much more in the Phillies' final game of the month: He homered, singled, was hit by a pitch and walked twice. That left him with 49 home runs for the season, breaking Mike Schmidt's team record. Howard became only the sixth different player in major league history to take a total of at least 49 home runs into September. Roger Maris took 51 into September in 1961; Mark McGwire, 55 in 1998 and 51 in 1999; Sammy Sosa, 55 in 1998 and 1999, and 52 in 2001; Barry Bonds, 57 in 2001; and Luis Gonzalez, 51 in 2001. • For more Elias Says, Click here

The loss kept the Phillies (67-66) from moving into a tie with idle San Diego for first place in the wild-card race. Philadelphia now is one game behind.

"I guess the best way to say it is we kind of let the game slip away from us," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "That might be even a better way to say it. We kind of let things get away from us. We've definitely got to learn to be more alert in the game and everything too."

The Phillies appeared ready to celebrate the win and Howard's record, which broke Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt's mark of 48 (1980).

Howard went 2-for-2, scored three runs and reached base in all five plate appearances. His long solo homer in the fourth appeared to hit a seat in the second deck before bouncing back out.

The first baseman finished August with 14 homers and 41 RBI. The first baseman leads the majors with 49 homers and 128 RBI.

"Some day in the off-season, when I look back on the season, it will be (more meaningful)," Howard said. "I try not to focus on what's going on and just staying alive and trying to win games and stuff like that. But one day I'll wake up and realize what happened."

The Nationals ruined the Phillies night by forcing extra innings with the two-run rally in the ninth. They fell behind again when Philadelphia pushed across a run on passed ball in the top of the 10th inning.

Anderson's run capped a wild inning that snapped a four-game losing streak. Brian Schneider tied the game with an RBI single off of Aaron Fultz that made up for his passed ball which gave the Phillies the lead and sent Anderson to second after his single. Anderson then alertly tagged and went to third on Bernie Castro's fly out.

Fultz bounced a 2-0 pitch to pinch-hitter Ryan Church, who swung and missed. But the ball hit catcher Mike Lieberthal and bounced into the air back towards the mound. Fultz grabbed the loose ball near the plate, but couldn't tag Anderson in time.

"He's a guy that throws a lot of sliders, a lot of balls in the dirt," Anderson said. "If he bounces it, you want to try to be aggressive and score there. It's one of those things...it popped up in the air. I knew I was going to have a chance."

Fultz said he tried but just couldn't get to Anderson in time.

"I guess it was closer than I thought it was going to be," Fultz said. "He got a good jump and I tried to get there and I just didn't make it."

To make a strange night even more unusual, the Nationals announced after the game that they had traded Anderson to Los Angeles for pitching prospect Jhonny Nunez.

The Nationals wasted an early 2-0 lead before Howard helped the Phillies rally. His record-setting solo homer in the fourth tied the game at 2, and he scored a tie-breaking run on Pat Burrell's sixth-inning double.

The Phillies added another run in the sixth and took that 4-2 lead into the ninth. With Philadelphia one strike away from the win, Felipe Lopez tied the game with a two-run single off Arthur Rhodes with two outs.

It was Rhodes' second blown save in six chances while filling in for injured closer Tom Gordon.

The Phillies took a 5-4 lead in the 10th when Abraham Nunez scored from third on Schneider's passed ball. Schneider said the ball was tipped slightly and replays appeared to confirm that.

Ryan Wagner (2-2) pitched an inning for the victory.

Game notes
Ryan Zimmerman's third-inning bunt single was his 10th of the season...Lieberthal helped the Phillies set a new team record when getting hit in the 10th, it was the team's 75th hit batter of the season, shattering a mark set in 1899.