Philadelphia Phillies demolish Washington Nationals

Maikel Franco hit a two-run homer to lead the Philadelphia Phillies in an 8-1 thumping of the Washington Nationals on Saturday.

Ryan Howard hit a solo home run and drove in another and Ben Revere scored three times for the Phillies, who had lost three of four coming in. Cole Hamels (5-3) won his fourth straight start after he allowed just one run on five hits while walking one and striking out five in eight innings.

Stephen Strasburg (3-5) had another rough performance, as he was tagged for six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits in just 3 2/3 innings for the Nationals, who had won six straight.

The Phillies scored all the runs they needed in the third inning. Revere walked with one out and moved to third on Cesar Hernandez's double. A groundout from Chase Utley plated a run, and Howard followed with a double to score Hernandez. Franco then belted a Strasburg pitch over the wall in right- center for a 4-0 lead.

Philadelphia plated two more runs in the fourth when Revere singled in one and Hernandez followed with a grounder to short that Ian Desmond misplayed, allowing Revere to score for a 6-0 advantage.

Howard led off the fifth with a blast to dead center, his 10th home run of the year.

In the sixth, Revere led off with a single and scored when Hernandez followed with a shot to left that saw Revere race home and Hernandez wind up at third. However, Hernandez stumbled as he turned around first and didn't tag the bag. The Nationals threw back to the base and Hernandez was ruled out.

Desmond doubled home Michael Taylor in the eighth to account for the Nationals' only run.

[SportsNetwork.com]