Philadelphia Phillies dispose of Washington Nationals in Jayson Werth's return

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

An ace-caliber outing by Cole Hamels and Raul Ibanez's return to hitting helped make the return of Jayson Werth irrelevant as the Philadelphia Phillies handled the Washington Nationals 4-1 in the first game of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Hamels (4-1) tossed a five-hitter on 108 pitches with six strikeouts and just one walk. The only blotch on Hamels' night came on a one-out home run by Nationals' left fielder Michael Morse in the seventh.

Hamels' bat also sparked the Phils as he tripled off the right-center field scoreboard in the third and scored the Phillies' first run on a Jimmy Rollins single. Rollins was batting leadoff for the first time this season.

Hamels' triple was the first by a Phillies pitcher since Cory Lidle tripled in 2006. Hamels finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Ibanez came into the game carrying a 0-for-34 streak at the plate which reached 0-for-35 before a fourth-inning ground-rule double to center field, and he added an RBI double in the seventh.

The crowd of 45,695 (the 138th straight sellout at the park) greeted Werth, who left the Phils to sign a $126 million contract with Washington, with boos that eventually turned to at least half cheers. Werth, who came into the game hitting .233, went 0-for-3 on the night with a stolen base.

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