Burnett sharp as Phillies beat Nationals 3-1

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A.J. Burnett pitched seven innings, Ryan Howard had two RBIs and the last-place Philadelphia Phillies beat Washington 3-1 Saturday to secure their first winning season against the Nationals since 2010.

Dominic Brown homered for the Phillies, who have won their last five games against the NL East leaders and hold a 10-8 advantage in the series that ends Sunday.

The 37-year-old Burnett (8-15) allowed one run and six hits, struck out four and walked two. He improved to 4-2 with 3.57 ERA in six outings against Washington this year.

It was Burnett's 400th career start. The right-hander lost his previous six road starts, and his only three wins since June 20 are all against Washington.

Ken Giles worked a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon got three outs for his 35th save.

Tanner Roark (12-10) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings for Washington, striking out eight and walking one. He has lost his last three starts.

The Nationals finished with seven hits, all of them singles, ending their streak of 13 straight games with a home run.

Before the game, Washington manager Matt Williams said he would take a closer-by-committee approach while struggling Rafael Soriano attempts to correct some mechanical flaws that have attributed to his 6.98 ERA since the All-Star break. Williams offered no guarantee that Soriano would return to the closer's role.

Burnett hit the first of four Philadelphia singles in the third inning. The last, by Howard, provided the Phillies with a 2-0 lead and increased the slugger's team-leading RBI total to 91.

A sacrifice fly by Anthony Rendon made it 2-1 in the fifth, but Philadelphia got the run back in the sixth when Brown drove a 3-0 pitch into the Nationals bullpen beyond the right-field wall.

UP NEXT

Their current records don't show it, but the starting pitchers in Sunday's series finale - Washington's Gio Gonzalez (7-9) and Philadelphia's Cole Hamel (8-6) - rank third and fourth among NL lefties in wins over the last three seasons. Gonzalez has 39 and Hamels has 33.

TOTAL RECALL

After going deep into the bench during Friday's 11-inning defeat, the Nationals recalled OF Michael Taylor and RHP Ryan Mattheus from Triple-A Syracuse. Both played for Washington earlier this year.

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