Stop the presses: the Washington Nationals have taken a three-game series from the mighty Philadelphia Phillies. Laynce Nix's third-inning home run proved to be the difference for Washington, as they won 2-1 on Wednesday in the kind of game they would probably love to play going forward.
John Lannan pitched five and a third innings of one-run ball, and the Nationals' bullpen did the rest. Tyler Clippard was perfect in two innings of work, and Drew Storen picked up the save after surrendering a one-out infield single to Jimmy Rollins. Roy Oswalt pitched well for Philadelphia, but got the loss on account of an RBI single by Jayson Werth and the aforementioned home run by Nix.
The home run was the ninth of the season for Nix in part-time duty. To make matters even better, Nix made a spectacular diving stop in the top of the sixth inning to preserve the lead. The Phillies had the bases loaded with two outs, and Dominic Brown sent a line drive into the left-center gap, but Nix made a diving stop to keep the Nationals in front.