WASHINGTON -- For the second game in a row, Bryce Harper came to bat in the last of the ninth with his team trailing by one run.

There was drama again Tuesday night at Nationals Park, but this time the results were different. After hitting a game-tying homer on Sunday as a pinch-hitter against the Minnesota Twins, Harper grounded out to third against closer Jeanmar Gomez as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Nationals 4-3 in the first of a three-game series.

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin called for intentional walks to Harper in the third and seventh, and the Washington right fielder also drew a walk in the first and singled in a run in the fifth.

Harper came to the plate in the ninth after Anthony Rendon had a two-out single against Gomez.

"I did not want to put the tying run on second base" by walking Harper, Mackanin said.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker agreed. "If you walk Bryce, you have the tying run on second."

Gomez won the battle after Harper fouled off several pitches. "That certainly had a lot of drama," said Mackanin, who said Gomez used his changeup against Harper. "That is how he gets lefties out."

Maikel Franco hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning for the game-winning run. The Franco double scored Andres Blanco, who doubled off Oliver Perez (1-1) for his third hit of the game. Franco came up limping after the hit but stayed in the game.

"Best utility man I have ever seen," Mackanin said of Blanco.

Blanco hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

Cesar Hernandez also had three hits for the Phillies (10-10), who lost 12 of 19 to Washington last season.

Phillies starter Vince Velasquez (3-1) gave up three runs on five hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out four.

"Vince pitched pretty well considering he didn't have his best command," Mackanin said.

David Hernandez pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out Ryan Zimmerman looking on a backdoor breaking ball to end the inning with two runners on base.

Hector Neris struck out two in the eighth, and Jeanmar Gomez pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Washington starter Max Scherzer struggled again and did not figure in the decision. He threw 116 pitches in six innings, giving up three runs, seven hits and four walks with seven strikeouts.

"He wasn't sharp," Washington manager Dusty Baker said of Scherzer. "He wasn't sharp early. He is throwing a lot of pitches in a short amount of time."

Scherzer now has an ERA of 4.35.

"I just don't have great fastball location. My fastball is in a little bit of a funk right now. I am not getting extension through that pitch," he said. "It is just a minor adjustment; it is getting extension through the pitch. I just need to make that adjustment and go out there and pitch to my abilities. I threw a lot of pitches tonight. I wasn't efficient."

Washington's Michael A. Taylor had two hits for the second game in a row but fanned for the second out in the ninth against a 92 mph pitch from Gomez.

Zimmerman and Harper had RBI singles in the fifth to tie the score at 3 against Velasquez.

The Phillies had grabbed a 3-1 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Hernandez.

The Nationals had cut the lead to 2-1 in the second as Daniel Murphy doubled to right, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice bunt on safety squeeze by Danny Espinosa.

NOTES: Washington C Wilson Ramos was placed on the bereavement list due to the death of grandfather. C Pedro Severino was called up from Triple-A Syracuse, and Jose Lobaton made the start behind of the plate against the Phillies. Severino, who was hitting .244 for Syracuse, had four at-bats last season with the Nationals. ... Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 1.42 ERA) will face Philadelphia RHP Jeremy Hellickson (1-1, 5.21) in the second game of the series Wednesday. ... Phillies manager Pete Mackanin was drafted by the Washington Senators in the fourth round in 1969. He was replaced as the Cincinnati Reds manager after the 2007 season by Dusty Baker, now the Nationals' manager. ... The Nationals were coming off a 16-inning win Sunday over the Minnesota Twins. It was the first time Baker ever won a game in which his team trailed in both the ninth inning and also in extra innings.