By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
Final: Nationals 5, Phillies 1 ❖ Attendance: 18,572
Philadelphia, PA – The Phillies offense produced just one run tonight en route to their fifth straight loss and their ninth defeat in the last 11 games. Philadelphia falls to the .500 mark for the first time since they were 10-10 on April 26.
Leading all of baseball with a .397 average, Daniel Murphy hit the go-ahead homer in the sixth for Washington. The wheels fell off completely for the Philllies in the eighth as Colton Murray allowed three runs to score, one on a two-run homer and the other on an inside-the-park home run.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola gave up two solo home runs in six solid innings of work, striking out six and walking one. Joe Ross followed up his strong start against the Phils in April with seven shutout innings tonight, scattering three hits and striking out five.
Adam Morgan gets the ball in the series finale on Wednesday against Max Scherzer.
WP: Joe Ross (5-4, 2.37 ERA) ❖ LP: Aaron Nola (4-4, 2.88 ERA)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| WAS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Jayson Werth got Washington on the board first, launching a solo homer into the seats in right center to make it 1-0.
Philadelphia got their first hit in the bottom of the third, a single from David Lough. Cesar Hernandez followed with an RBI-triple to right-center to tie the game at one a piece. Hernandez got thrown out at home after Odubel Herrera grounded to short with the infield in.
Daniel Murphy gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead with a solo home run to right, his ninth of the season, in the top of the sixth. Washington got some insurance in the ninth courtesy of a two-run homer off the bat of Danny Espinosa. To add salt to the wound, Stephen Drew followed with an inside-the-park home run to right center, making it a 5-1 game.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Ross | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.37 |
| Aaron Nola | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2.88 |
Nationals
- Daniel Murphy: 2-4, HR, R, RBI, K, .397
- Jayson Werth: 1-4, HR, R, RBI, K, .225 AVG
- Danny Espinosa: 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, K, .199 AVG
Phillies
- David Lough: 2-2, R, .250 AVG
- Cesar Hernandez: 1-3, 3B, RBI, K, .256 AVG
- Odubel Herrera: 1-3, 2B, BB, .319 AVG
Nationals
- Felipe Rivero: 1.0 IP, 2 K, 3.60 ERA
- Jonathan Papelbon: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 2.91 ERA
Phillies
- David Hernandez: 1.0 IP, 2 K, 2.55 ERA
- Andrew Bailey: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 2.57 ERA
- Colton Murray: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3.21 ERA
What's Next
- Wednesday, June 1st, 2016: vs. Washington, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- LHP Adam Morgan (1-3, 6.67 ERA) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (5-4, 4.05 ERA)
- TV: CSN, MLB.TV; Radio: 94 WIP
