Chase Utley had two of the Phillies' four hits in a 9-2 loss to the Nationals.
In his time with the Washington Nationals, John Lannan posted a 3-13 record against the Phillies. In his first two starts against his former team, the Phillies were victorious.
Lannan's return to Nationals Park, however, was hardly a homecoming. The Nationals had a field day with Lannan, hitting him around over five innings.
A pair of homers in the second and a four-run inning in the fifth highlighted a strong night from the Nationals at the plate as they rolled past the Phillies, 9-2, on Friday night at Nationals Park.
The Nationals opened the scoring in the second as Anthony Rendon crushed a two-run home run to centerfield. After getting a pair of outs, Ryan Zimmerman added a solo shot to cap a three-run inning.
Back-to-back doubles by Ian Desmond and Adam LaRoche scored another run for Washington in the third.
The Phillies would add a run on an RBI single by Chase Utley in the fourth, cutting the lead to three.
The Nationals piled on in the fifth. A pair of two-out hits, the latter being an RBI double by Wilson Ramos, opened the scoring. After an intentional walk to Rendon, Lannan fell behind pitcher Dan Haren, 3-0, before recovering to 3-2. But the payoff pitch missed low, allowing a run to score on the walk. Denard Span followed with a two-run single to cap the scoring for the inning.
That was the end of the night for Lannan, who finished after five innings allowing eight runs on nine hits. He walked five and struck out three.
The Phillies got a pair of baserunners to open the seventh, as Utley doubled for his second hit of the game and Domonic Brown followed with a single. After a strikeout by Darin Ruf, Cody Asche grounded into a force play that scored Utley.
Justin De Fratus and Cesar Jimenez pitched scoreless innings in relief. Raul Valdes allowed a two-out RBI single to Bryce Harper in the eighth.
The Phillies managed just four hits on the night, two by Utley, in the loss.
The loss dropped the Phillies to 52-63. They return on Saturday night to face the Nationals. Cliff Lee starts against Taylor Jordan.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Philliedelphia. You can follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
