Ryan Drese once again was ineffective. He gave up four runs in four innings, and his ERA rose to 5.78. Luckily, John Halama (in his first appearance as a National) and Luis Ayala held the Phillies scoreless until the eighth and kept the Nationals close. But close doesn't mean a whole lot for this team lately, and with the team reverting back to its low-scoring offense, it didn't look like the Nationals could come back.
Yes, things looked bleak, but that was before Preston Wilson stepped to the plate. Preston Wilson? You mean the guy who was supposed to save the Nationals' offense but has emerged as a fourth outfielder? Yeah, that guy. With one out and Jose Guillen on second, Wilson singled to left to score Guillen, and Wilson went to second on the throw home.
Things still looked a little bleak, given that the game was tied 4-4 and the Nationals haven't been able to score runs late in games. But that was before Carlos Baerga stepped to the plate. Carlos Baerga? You mean the guy who is barely a major leaguer, the guy who runs like he's doing calisthenics? Yeah, that guy. Baerga singled to center to score Wilson, and the score was 5-4.
And just like that a day that seemed lost was all of a sudden a potential turning point and point to make a stand. By winning the second game of the day, the Nationals stayed within .5 game of the Phillies in the wild card race. And with another Houston loss, the race looks like this:
| Team | Record | Pct. | GB |
| Phillies | 65-57 | .533 | -- |
| Nationals | 64-57 | .529 | .5 |
| Astros | 64-57 | .529 | .5 |
| Marlins | 63-57 | .525 | 1 |
The Nationals are still in this thing, and if they can find a way around Ryan Drese maybe they can win it!
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