Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals

Left-hander Foster Griffin delivered another strong performance -- spinning a career-high 7 1/3 innings for his eighth victory -- and the Nationals smacked a pair of homers to topple the Phillies 4-1 in a rain-delayed series opener at Nationals Park. In a rare matchup between the clubs when both are above .500 this late in the season, the Nationals demonstrated again how well they match up against good teams. Over the weekend, the Nats battled the second-place Rays down to the wire before falling, 4-3. Monday, they took down the 42-win Phillies. “At the end of the day, I think \[facing stiff competition\