Soriano puts on a show for triumphant Nationals

PHILADELPHIA — Alfonso Soriano put on a clinic and reached two milestones last night against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rookie Ryan Zimmerman offered a strong supporting role and the Nationals beat the Phillies 6-4 in front of 30,123 at Citizens Bank Park.

In the first inning, Soriano tied his career high, hitting his 39th home run of the season. In the second inning, Soriano became the first player in baseball history not named Bonds to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases at least four times in a career .

Former Montreal Expo Vladimir Guerrero is the only other player in franchise history to post a 30-home run, 30-stolen base season.

But Soriano, who last night went 4-for-6 with a home run, one RBI, and two runs scored, has his sights set higher. He wants to join Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez in the exclusive 40/40 club.

“Yeah, 40/40 is more special because only three players did that,” Soriano said. “I got close in 2002 (39 home runs and 41 stolen bases) and a lot of my friends and my family have a spot in their hearts because I got so close.”

Meanwhile, Zimmerman, Felipe Lopez and Tony Armas Jr. helped hand the National League wild-card chasing Phillies a loss. Zimmerman drove in a career-high five runs, going 3-for-5 with a home run and double.

“He had a great night, that’s all,” Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. “He was very good up there and came through in the clutch tonight, which he has been doing a lot this year.”

Nationals starter Armas (8-8) received the win but struggled, getting behind batters all game. In his last outing, Armas allowed just one unearned run but didn’t receive a decision despite pitching seven dazzling innings in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the New York Mets.

Things fell apart for Armas in the sixth inning last night. Armas dug a hole for himself when he walked Chase Utley to start the inning. With one out, Pat Burrell broke up Armas’ shutout bid with a double into the left-field corner that scored Utley and made it 6-1.

After an infield single by Aaron Rowand, Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal narrowed the deficit when he doubled over center fielder Ryan Church’s head, and cut the Nationals lead to 6-3. Then in the eighth, Lieberthal homered off reliever Jon Rauch to trim the lead to two.

Nationals closer Chad Cordero pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick up his 23rd save of the season.

“We don’t make it easy on ourselves,” Robinson said. “We don’t take advantage of the opportunities to maximize the opportunity that you have to put clubs away.”

Philadelphia’s troubled starter Brett Myers (8-6) contributed to Soriano’s big evening. Myers, who had a highly publicized incident in Boston earlier in the summer when he was charged with assaulting his wife on a city street, gave up two of Soriano’s four hits.

Soriano’s memorable night began with a home run on the third pitch of the game. Myers grooved a 1-1 pitch to the Nationals’ slugger. Soriano belted it into the center-field promenade — a place called “Ashburn’s Alley” — named after Phillies legend Richie Ashburn.

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