Werth homers twice as Nationals pound Phillies

Jayson Werth kept the bat in his grip on Wednesday night as he left the batter's box and gazed toward left field. The former Phillies outfielder tracked the path of another pitch he mercilessly whacked into the night.

Werth rounded the bases in the sixth inning without a hurry. He had hit yet another home run, stinging his old team twice in Washington's 12-2 win over the Phillies. Werth's home runs in consecutive at-bats gave him two homers in the same game for the second time in the three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Nationals won all three.

He also homered in the fourth. Phillies rookie Alec Asher grooved a fastball and Werth did not miss. Werth's solo home run in the sixth helped turn the game into a rout. He tagged another fastball down the middle, this time from reliever Hector Neris.

Asher allowed four earned runs in five innings as his ERA moved to 9.78 through four major-league starts. The righthander's offering to Werth was the sixth homer he has allowed in 191/3 innings. Asher is allowing home runs at nearly double the rate he did this season in the minor leagues.

"You just have to keep going," Asher said. "Failure is part of the game. It's frustrating. Don't get me wrong, no one likes losing. I hate it. Failure is part of the game. That's something you have to realize. Trying to shorten the learning curve, learn a lot of things and get better."

Despite the win, the Nationals still face long odds of making the playoffs. They are 71/2 games behind the New York Mets for first place in the National League East with 17 games to play. The Mets held a seven-game lead over the Phillies with 17 games left in 2007 before they collapsed. Unless Washington rallies, the Phillies will be the only team in the last 10 seasons to win consecutive division titles.

Washington's chances of capturing a wild-card berth are even slimmer. They are nine games behind the Chicago Cubs, who have a firm hold on the National League's second wild card.

Asher ran into poor fortune in the second inning as Darin Ruf misplayed two balls at first base. Ruf redeemed himself with a two-run homer in the fourth to tie the score at 2. It was the lone mistake by Washington starter Gio Gonzalez, who struck out 12 batters in seven innings.

Ruf will play almost every day in the absence of Ryan Howard, who remains sidelined with a left knee contusion. Interim general manager Scott Proefrock said he hopes Ruf seizes the opportunity. Proefrock said Ruf "can help answer some questions for us for next year."

"I've been here for parts of four years now," Ruf said. "If I can change their mind in a week of playing every day, I guess maybe I'll have to have one hell of a week. I guess I'll have to see how things end up."

Werth came back up in the seventh inning as the Phillies' tattered bullpen worked to piece together the final four innings. The blessing of September has been the four extra bullpen options that were added when rosters expanded, a respite for the exhausted relief corps.

Justin De Fratus, who has thrown the most pitches by a Phillies reliever since 2009, met Werth in the seventh. Werth crushed a pitch to right field and the crowd moaned. Jeff Francoeur settled on the warning track and made the out. Werth raised his eyes to the sky as he reached first base. He was denied a third home run. At last, he was retired.

@matt_breen