Buzzkill

When the Phillies trailed the Nationals 6-3 in the bottom on the 9th yesterday, they had a 9 percent chance of winning. But three straight hits quadrupled their odds before Jayson Werth came up with a man on base.

He hit the dramatic home run, sparking euphoria (never mind that it was against the poor Nationals). But the era of good feelings didn't last long as it was soon reported that Werth had signed with Scott Boras.

As Todd Zolecki notes, this probably doesn't affect the Phillies, because everyone assumed Werth was gone anyway. But it's just another thing to make his impending free agency nauseating.

And, of course, it came on the eve of the Phillies' first of two remaining series against the Braves, which could officially end the division race.

Tonight there was no lingering buzzkill as the Phillies dispatched the Braves 3-1 behind the vaunted pitching that won the World Series in 2008: eight innings from Cole Hamels and a perfect 9th from Brad Lidge. The Phillies lead is now four games with a magic number of eight.

The Red Sox will keep pedaling until the end of the road, but the Orioles are pedaling harder and won 4-2.