Phils fall to Nats on night after clincher

WASHINGTON - They lit a scented candle called Autumn Wreath in the Phillies' clubhouse before the game, just one tactic to eradicate the stench of champagne and cigar smoke. But the carpet was still soaking wet. One Phillies player found a hat he wore during the previous night's celebration and shoved it in another player's face.

"Smell this," he said.

It was an artifact from when the Phillies played games of significance in 2010. But for a five-game stretch beginning Tuesday - a 2-1 Phillies loss to the Nationals - and ending Sunday, the results are meaningless. The Phillies have clinched the division. They have clinched the best record in the National League.

Adam Dunn ended the game with a tape-measure homer to right off Phillies reliever Jose Contreras in the ninth.

Questions do remain in the week before the Phillies begin their fourth straight jaunt through the postseason. Can a healthy Jimmy Rollins be a factor? Will rookie Domonic Brown make the playoff roster? Who in the bullpen will fill out the relief corps?

Begin with Rollins, the most pressing issue for the Phillies in the final week. He started a game for the first time in 20 days. He batted three times, singling to center in his final at-bat.

After he reached base, Raul Ibanez hit a double-play ball to shortstop. Rollins didn't run hard or even attempt to break it up, but Ibanez still beat out the relay throw to first.

In the field, Rollins was mostly responsible for an unearned Washington run in the first inning. With Nyjer Morgan on second base, Ian Desmond hit a comebacker to Roy Oswalt. The pitcher caught Morgan in a rundown and tossed the ball to Rollins. The shortstop chased Morgan to third but threw wide of Greg Dobbs.

Originally, the error was charged to Rollins but subsequently changed to Dobbs'. But with a good throw, the runner was out.

After three at-bats, Charlie Manuel lifted Rollins for Brian Bocock. Rollins batted leadoff in his return, but Manuel would not commit to putting his shortstop there come playoff time.

"I have no idea," Manuel said before the game. "We'll wait and see how he plays."

The luxury for Manuel and Rich Dubee is they can experiment with different parts in game situations. Oswalt allowed one earned run and threw 66 pitches in five innings, but he is no longer needed to pitch deep into games until the postseason. Instead, this acted merely as a tune-up, perhaps his final one of the regular season.

If the Phillies take 11 pitchers on the postseason roster, the final two spots are still question marks. One figures to be lefthander Antonio Bastardo, who impressively struck out the side in the eighth.

The other could come down to Danys Baez, David Herndon or fifth starter Kyle Kendrick. On Tuesday, Baez pitched a scoreless sixth inning, walking one batter. Herndon retired both batters he faced in the seventh.

Manuel said the evaluation of his bench players is ongoing. He rested Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth on Tuesday. He plans to sit Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in the coming days.

Both Brown and Dobbs started, and if the postseason bench is to be six deep, the final spot is between those two. Brown made his first start since Sept. 6 and showed why he could be valuable on the bench in the sixth inning when he worked a 1-2 count into a walk. Then, he stole second.

When asked if Brown could still make the roster, Manuel provided an open-ended answer.

"He could," the manager said. "We'll see. We haven't sat down and really talked about those things yet. We have another few days here."

And that, apparently, is why they'll play the games.