Phillies lose to Nationals on walkoff grand slam

WASHINGTON - All season, it had been so automatic that when the ninth inning began last night, you did not even notice that the Phillies' lead was only two runs. They had a lead, and they had one inning to go, and only two times before this season had that situation resulted in a loss.

Last night, though, will go down as one of those nights.

After a bizarre 2-hour, 22-minute rain delay that began 6 minutes after the opening pitch, emergency starter Kyle Kendrick pitched six solid innings, only to watch dominant closer Ryan Madson surrender six runs in the ninth inning, the final four coming on a walkoff grand slam by Ryan Zimmerman that lifted the Nationals to an 8-4 victory.

It was only the second blown save in 25 opportunities for Madson, who was charged with the loss.

The loss capped off a crazy 48 hours that saw nearly 5 hours' worth of rain delays interrupt two straight games. It was after 4 a.m. when the Phillies arrived at their Pentagon City hotel yesterday, the late arrival prompted by a rain-interrupted win over the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park Thursday night.

Before the game, manager Charlie Manuel was informed that his team could play .500 ball for the final 40 games of the season and still reach 100 wins. The manager acknowledged the fact and the testament it paid to the way his team had played, but then he reverted to his usual mantra, that baseball is an everyday thing, that the moment you start pacing yourself is the moment you get passed. It is arguably a manager's most important job, keeping even the most talented of teams focused on the task at hand while also ensuring that they are comfortable enough to finish a 162-game schedule.

For the first eight innings, the Phillies played as they have all season, scoring four runs in the third inning to hand a healthy lead to Kendrick, who pitched as he has all season.

No pitcher on the Phillies' star-studded staff has been subjected to a wider array of circumstances than Kendrick. And at a position that has developed into one of the most routine-intensive in all of professional sports, he has carved himself a role as a pitcher who seems to find comfort in the unsettled.