Howard's Jack Ties Michael Jack; Phillyists Beat DCists, 10-6

Phillyist paid another visit to the nation's capital on Tuesday, and took in the first game of the Phillies-Nationals series along with a humidity-drenched crowd of 25,735 that yet again included a significant number of Phillies fans. While much has been made of the fact that Phillies don't play any games against teams over .500 for the rest of the season, the Nationals boast two quite good players in leadoff slugger Alfonso Soriano and possible Rookie of the Year Ryan Zimmerman.

So naturally, we were worried that the Phillies would trip over this one and leave us grousing. But they didn't, and in quite some fashion. A bases-loaded double by Pat Burrell (yes, really) in the first inning put two runs on the board, and Mike Lieberthal stunned us by hiting a 390-foot two-run homer in the fourth. The Phillies had it relatively from there on the way to a 10-6 win.

As amazing as Lieberthal's home run was, the night's signature moment was a truly monstrous three-run shot by Ryan Howard in the sixth inning (click here and go to "Top Play" to see it). RFK Stadium's field is huge, and it is far from easy to put one over the fence. But Howard hit one off the facing of the upper deck in dead center field. That probably translates to something like 440 feet, given that the fence is 410 feet out and the upper deck is at about the same height as it was at Veterans Stadium. Even the Nationals fans, who haven't had much to cheer about of late besides the nightly Presidents Race (at left), were impressed.

That home run turned out to be of some consequence, because closer Aaron Fultz gave up two runs on three hits in the ninth, forcing Charlie Manuel to bring in Arthur Rhodes to finish the game off. But other than those runs and an equally ferocious home run by Soriano in the third inning, the place was pretty flat. Not quite as flat as the brim on Nationals reliever Chad Cordero's cap, which is becoming a cultural icon in D.C., but even we were annoyed that it took three and a half hours to get to the final out of the game (at right).

The Phillies are now tied with Cincinnati for second place in the Wild Card race, half a game behind San Diego.

All photos taken by the author.