Herrera's hit a winner for Phillies

Odubel Herrera stood up from the chair in front of his locker and turned to face the reporters waiting for him in the Phillies clubhouse late Saturday night. Remnants from a postgame shaving-cream pie, courtesy of teammate and countryman Freddy Galvis, sat in clumps at the front of his dreadlocks.

Herrera, an always-smiling 23-year-old from Venezuela, picked an opportune time for his first major-league hit. The second baseman-turned-centerfielder, who spent last year in double A, smacked Tanner Roark's 0-2 slider down the right-field line to score Carlos Ruiz in the bottom of the 10th inning and put the Phillies (3-2) above .500 for the first time in 11 months.

Herrera, whom the Phillies acquired from the Rangers in December's Rule 5 draft, went his first eight at-bats without a hit after leading the team in the category during spring training.

"I always think positive," he said through a translator, Phillies' first-base coach Juan Samuel. "I am very pleased that the first base hit of my major-league career was as big as that one."

Herrera's hit might not have scored Ruiz if the Phillies catcher hadn't tagged up the previous at-bat, when Grady Sizemore flew out to deep left field. It would not have won the game if not for a play made by the teammate who moved to left field when Herrera took over in center a few weeks ago.

With one out in the top of the 10th, Ben Revere threw out Washington's Michael Taylor trying to score from second base on a single. For Revere, oft-criticized for his weak arm in center field, it was his first outfield assist as a leftfielder.

"One-hop right on the money," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "It really looks like his arm plays in left field pretty well."

Though they tallied 13 hits, the Phillies were just 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position. Three times they put a runner on second with no outs, and three times they failed to score. Two sacrifice bunt attempts, one from Galvis and the other from Revere, resulted in the lead runner being thrown out at third base.

It was the second consecutive night the Phillies came from behind to win against the Nationals (1-4). The last time they were above .500 was May 4 of last season, when they were 15-14.

Dustin McGowan, the newest Phillie, earned the win after pitching a scoreless 10th inning. Cole Hamels, who made his second start, pitched a great game but once again didn't receive any run support.

Each of the five runs charged to Hamels through his two starts have come on solo home runs. He allowed only two hits over seven innings Saturday, but one was Wilson Ramos' fourth-inning homer.

Ruiz ensured Hamels would not leave with a hard-luck loss when he drove in the game-tying run with an eighth-inning single. A batter before, Ryan Howard's double off the top of the left-field wall scored Chase Utley. Howard doubled twice Saturday; three of his four hits in 16 at-bats are doubles.

Herrera stood out in spring training, but it was not until late Saturday, his second career start, when he first made his mark. He returned to the clubhouse to find messages of support from back home in Venezuela on his cellphone.

"I'm very grateful that things have happened this way for me," he said, "and hopefully I can stick around for a long time."