Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - Esteban Loaiza pitched eight strong innings, and Brian Schneider and Preston Wilson each hit three-run homers as the Washington Nationals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1, to take two out of three games at RFK Stadium.

Wilson finished with three hits for the Nationals, who won the final two contests of the series.

Loaiza (10-10) matched a career-best with 11 batters while allowing only one run on four hits to improve to 3-2 in his last five starts.

"He was outstanding," said Nationals manager Frank Robinson. "He threw strikes, moved the ball around the strike zone. He felt strong out there. It was exactly what we needed and he gave it to us."

Loaiza threw 129 pitches, 88 for strikes, on only three days of rest.

"It was a great game for me and a great game for us," said Loaiza.

Jason Michaels knocked in the lone run for Philadelphia, which lost for the fifth time in eight contests. Gavin Floyd (1-2), making his first start since April 15, gave up three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out six in six innings.

Despite the loss, Philadelphia remained a half-game ahead of Florida and Houston for the NL wild card lead, as both those teams lost Sunday. Washington moved within two games of the Phillies.

The Nationals jumped on Floyd early in the game when Schneider's three-run homer in the second inning put the Nationals up 3-0.

Floyd started the inning by allowing a lead-off double to Wilson. After hitting Vinny Castilla with a pitch, Schneider drilled the first pitch he saw from Floyd over the right field wall.

Wilson tagged the Phillies for three more runs in the seventh to give the Nationals a comfortable lead. Brad Wilkerson walked to start the inning and Jose Guillen walked two batters later before Wilson drove Pedro Liriano's offering over the left field wall for the six-run lead.

Philadelphia got on the board in the eighth when Jimmy Rollins led off the inning with a double and scored on Michaels' single.

The Phillies threatened in the second, but couldn't execute. Ryan Howard led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second two batters later on Mike Lieberthal's single. However, Floyd struck out trying to advance the runners with a bunt and Rollins grounded out to end the inning.

Game Notes

The Phillies finished their 12-game road trip with a 6-6 record. 14 of the team's next 17 games are against NL East opponents...The Nationals have gone eight straight games without committing an error...Rollins extended his hit streak to 11 games and Lieberthal now has a nine-game hit streak...Howard had his eight-game hit streak snapped after going 0-for-3.