PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper hit his 20th homer, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki also connected and the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 Wednesday night to move closer toward winning their first division title since moving to Washington.
The Nationals reduced their magic number in the NL East to four. They are four games up on Atlanta with seven remaining.
John Lannan (4-0) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings to win his second start since taking Stephen Strasburg’s spot in the rotation. Strasburg, the All-Star righty, was shut down after reaching his innings limit.
The Phillies, who closed to within three games of St. Louis for the NL’s second wild-card spot following a late push, are on the verge of elimination.