Phillies Vs. Nationals: Danny Espinosa Becomes First To Homer Off Both Cliff Lee And Roy Halladay

Nationals' second baseman Danny Espinosa continues to turn heads, hitting two home runs on Tuesday to carry the Nationals to a 10-2 win over Cliff Lee and the Philadelphia Phillies. The home runs give him 10 for the season, and he also leads the Nationals in RBIs. 

But Espinosa's biggest accomplishment may be unlocking an achievement nobody else in baseball has unlocked yet. With Tuesdays' performance, Espinosa is now the first person to homer against both Lee and Roy Halladay this season. This was something Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post casually dropped in near the end of his game story.

Espinosa's second career two-homer game gave him 10 this season, tying him with Mark Trumbo for the major league lead among rookies and putting him second behind Robinson Cano among second basemen. Espinosa is the only player to hit a homer off both Halladay and Lee this year.    

Espinosa's batting average remains low, but everything else indicates the Nationals may have found another building block for the future.

Phillies Vs. Nationals Final: Nationals Route Phillies 10-2

Philadelphia Phillies fans usually feel quite at home at Nationals Park especially when they have a pitcher like Cliff Lee on the mound. Tuesday night they were made uncomfortable by an offensive explosion from the Washington Nationals so much so that by the seventh-inning they and Lee were almost nowhere to be found. The last place Nationals completely dominate the first place Phillies by a stinging 10-2 score.

Nationals starter Jason Marquis earned his sixth notch in his belt by holding down a potent Phillies line-up. Marquis' only mistakes in six-innings of work was giving up back-to-back home runs to Domonic Brown and John Mayberry in the fifth. Marquis finished with two earned runs on just four hits, striking out four and walking none. It was yet another powerful performance from Marquis and he got an odd sort of support from his offense.

The Nationals offense exploded on their NL East rivals led by second baseman Danny Espinosa who drilled two home runs off Lee (one a three-run homerun) and went 3-for-4 with four RBI. The rest of the Nationals offense helped out in the Phillies nightmare. Former Phillie Jayson Werth had two RBI, first baseman Michael Morse went 3-for-5 with two RBI and both Ivan Rodriguez and Jerry Hairston Jr. collected RBIs of their own. The Nationals dropped 10 runs on the Phillies in total which is the highest run total any team in 2011 has tagged the Phillies with and the final 10-2 is the highest margin of victory for the Nationals against Philadelphia since baseball returned to D.C. in 2005.

The Nationals move to 23-31 and are in last place in the NL East.

Phillies Vs. Nationals Score: Nationals Put A Crooked Number On Lee

The Washington Nationals shocked the Philadelphia Phillies and their visiting fans at Nationals Park into silence after putting up a big number on feared Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee. An offensive explosion has left Lee reeling and the Nationals on top early in Tuesday night's game 5-0.

The crooked number was posted in the third-inning. After a RBI sacrifice fly by former Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth, first baseman Michael Morse added to the damage by hitting an RBI single to score Roger Bernadina. With Morse and shortstop Ian Desmond on base, that set up second baseman Danny Espinosa who then cracked a three-run homer off Lee to put the Nationals in the lead. Nationals starter Jason Marquis has held up well so far only giving up four hits, issuing no walks and striking out one.

Espinosa leads the Nationals in home runs in 2011 with nine. His 32 RBIs lead MLB rookies while his nine home runs lead NL rookies and ranks 2nd among MLB rookies in total. Seven of the nine home runs Espinosa has hit have been multi-run taters.

Tuesday's five runs on Lee are the second most runs Lee has given up this season thus far. In his second start of the season, Lee gave up six runs to the Atlanta Braves.

Going into the fifth-inning the Nationals have a solid lead, but there is still plenty of game to go.

Phillies Vs. Nationals: Washington Looks To Solve Cliff Lee, Philadelphia

The Washington Nationals missed their chance to get to the Philadelphia Phillies when Roy Halladay wasn't pitching his best on Monday, losing 5-4 despite hitting three home runs. As a reward, the Nationals will get Cliff Lee in the second game of a three-game series on Tuesday.

The Nationals are free-falling, having lost 10 of 12, including three straight one-run games. Things continue to get worse, which is bad because the Phillies continue to improve. Philadelphia now owns the best record in the Majors and has continued to dominate the Nationals, with their fans invading their stadium to add insult to injury.

Jason Marquis will oppose Lee on Tuesday, as he hopes to rebound from his second loss of the season. Ivan Rodriguez will start behind the plate for Wilson Ramos. Here is the complete Nationals' lineup:

1. Roger Bernadina (CF)
2. Ian Desmond (SS)
3. Jayson Werth (RF)
4. Michael Morse (1B)
5. Danny Espinosa (2B)
6. Ivan Rodriguez (C)
7. Jerry Hairston (3B)
8. Brian Bixler (LF)
9. Jason Marquis (P