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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 12:45 p.m., Monday, March 31, 2008

Baseball: Nationals defeat Phillies, 11-6

By ROB MAADDI
AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Nationals took their late-inning act on the road.

Nick Johnson's tiebreaking RBI double off Tom Gordon highlighted a five-run ninth inning and the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-6 today.

Last night, Ryan Zimmerman's solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave Washington a 3-2 victory over Atlanta in the debut of its $611 million Nationals Park.

No doubt, there was some celebrating on the bus ride to Philly. The Nationals arrived after 2 a.m., but weren't too tired to spoil the Phillies' opening-day party.

Reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins hit a tying, two-run homer in the seventh, but the Phillies' bullpen blew it.

Lastings Milledge led off the ninth with an infield single off Gordon (0-1). Johnson's one-out double to right-center drove in Milledge, who barely scored standing up.

Johnson scored from third on catcher Carlos Ruiz's errant pickoff throw, and Paul Lo Duca and Ronnie Belliard hit consecutive RBI doubles to chase Gordon. Dmitri Young's RBI double capped the big inning.

Saul Rivera (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth.

The Phillies overcame a poor start and a slew of injuries to surpass the New York Mets in the final weekend last season. They clinched their first NL East title in 14 years with a victory over the Nationals on the final day of the regular season, but got swept by Colorado in a first-round series.

Expectations are high for this season for a city starving for a celebration. Fans displayed a large banner that read: "World Series or Bust."

For the third straight year, the Phillies lost their opener.

Down 6-2 after Milledge hit a two-run shot off Ryan Madson in the sixth, the Fightin' Phils pulled off a rally as they did so often last season.

Chase Utley's solo homer cut it to 6-3 in the sixth. After Ruiz had an RBI double off Joel Hanrahan with no outs in the seventh, left-hander Ray King struck out pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins.

That set the stage for Rollins, who had a career-best 30 homers last season. He ripped a liner into the left-center field seats, atoning for a costly error in Washington's four-run fifth.

With the crowd chanting "MVP," Rollins circled the bases and then came out of the dugout for the season's first curtain call.

Brett Myers had a so-so return to the rotation for the Phillies after finishing last year as the closer. He tossed four scoreless innings, but seemed to tire in the fifth. Myers allowed four runs — three earned — and five hits in five innings. He also walked two and hit two batters.

Rollins got it started right away for the Phillies. He doubled and scored on Utley's sacrifice fly in the first off Matt Chico. Pat Burrell's RBI single made it 2-0 in the fourth.

A sellout crowd of 44,553 turned out for the fifth season opener at Citizens Bank Park. They gave rousing ovations to Rollins, Utley, Howard, even Burrell and manager Charlie Manuel. But it wouldn't be Philadelphia without boos. Pitcher Adam Eaton got an earful, though he took it well and waved his arm to encourage a few more.

Notes: One member of the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachuted onto the field with the first ball. Due to high winds, the rest of the jumpers didn't make the leap. ... Willie Harris started for Nationals LF Elijah Dukes, who was put on the disabled list after injuring his right hamstring on Sunday night.