WASHINGTON — Craig Stammen carried a shutout into the seventh inning, and the Nationals roughed up Roy Oswalt in his Philadelphia debut, halting the Phillies’ eight-game winning streak with an 8-1 victory Friday night.
“I came out amped up, held the ball a little tight,” said Oswalt, who absorbed his major league-leading 13th defeat. “Didn’t really start feeling better until the last two innings. Didn’t really go my way.”
Oswalt (6-13), a former 20-game winner acquired from Houston in a four-player trade Thursday, allowed five runs — four earned — and seven hits in six innings. He walked two, struck out four and hit two batters.
Pitching in a meaningful game in the NL East, where the Phillies are chasing first-place Atlanta, instead of for the fifth-place Astros was a big change for Oswalt.
“It’s different for sure,” he said. “This team is good from top to bottom. It’s good to get on a pitching staff with (Roy) Halladay and (Cole) Hamels and the other guys. It’s hard to gain 30 games overnight.”
Oswalt also had a forgettable first at-bat with the Phillies. Roger Bernadina charged what might have been a single to right and threw Oswalt out at first.
Stammen (3-4) went 6 1/3 innings and gave up one run and five hits. He walked one and struck out five.
“I just got in a groove and had a pretty good sinker,” Stammen said. “We got a lead so it was pretty much throw that over the plate and see if they could hit it. For the most part, I did all right tonight.”
