Madson gets the call, finishes off Nationals

The Washington Nationals would rather not play any role in determining the identity of the Philadelphia Phillies’ closer. If the Nationals had their way, they would lead every matchup with their division counterparts and never allow Charlie Manuel the opportunity to choose from Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson and Brett Myers as his man on the mound for the ninth inning.

Alas, the Nationals just can’t help themselves. On Tuesday night, they put perhaps the final stake through Lidge’s damaged heart and forced Manuel to ask Madson to bail him out. And Wednesday night, they forced the manager to make the move official: With his team leading by one run in the ninth, Manuel called upon Madson to finish the job.

Philadelphia’s closer du jour did just that, securing a tense, 6-5 victory thanks to a line-drive double play by Adam Dunn that ended the ballgame.

“We had a chance, but we just couldn’t get it done. Again,” said interim manager Jim Riggleman, whose team has lost nine straight to the Phillies and 10 of 11 overall.

Manuel wouldn’t have needed a closer had Washington’s bullpen been able to keep the score knotted at 4-4 and given the offense a chance to win it. But Tyler Clippard entered in the eighth and turned it into a two-run deficit in a span of seconds, serving up back-to-back homers to Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz.

The Nationals nearly clawed their way back. They loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning but managed only one run off Chan Ho Park (on a Pete Orr sacrifice fly). That merely trimmed the lead to 6-5 and set the stage for high drama in the ninth, when the bullpen door swung open and Madson emerged.

The former setup man got into trouble right away, allowing a leadoff single to Justin Maxwell and then allowing the rookie to steal second. But he struck out Cristian Guzman looking and then got Dunn to rope a sharp line drive just to the right of second base.

“I thought I hit it enough up the middle to where it had a chance,” said Dunn, who also made the final out against Madson on Tuesday. “But ‘Super Chase’ came out of nowhere.”

Indeed, Chase Utley scooted to his right and snagged the line drive at his ankles, then tossed the ball to shortstop Jimmy Rollins to double up Maxwell.

“I’m trying to score for the team, but I’ve got to know that read,” Maxwell said. “I’ve got to freeze on a line drive with less than two outs. Just something to learn from.”

The evening began as the latest opportunity for Garrett Mock to state his case as a solid major league starter. It turned into another classic exhibition of the right-hander’s inconsistency. At one point, he allowed five straight Phillies players to reach base. At another, he struck out the side with ease.

Dominant moments or not, Mock’s body of work doesn’t look all that impressive. With a no-decision Wednesday, he’s 3-7 with a 5.75 ERA in 24 appearances, the past 11 of them starts.

“I think he’s a work in progress,” Riggleman said. “He made some real strides forward previous to his last couple outings. He took a little step backward. … He’s better than that. He’s better than what he threw tonight.”

Mock, like most other Nationals pitchers, was unable to contain the one-man wrecking crew known as Raul Ibanez. The 37-year-old outfielder had a pair of doubles Wednesday and is batting .458 (27-for-59) with eight home runs, 21 RBI and an otherworldly .966 slugging percentage against Washington this season.

But two relievers did manage to retire Ibanez at crucial junctures Wednesday, with Sean Burnett striking him out in the seventh and Mike MacDougal doing the same in the ninth, each time with runners in scoring position.

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