WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 2012 Washington Nationals regular season came to a close with 5-1 beatdown of the rival Philadelphia Phillies. Behind Edwin Jackson‘s six strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings of 1-run ball, the Nats won their 98th game of the season, exceeding everyone’s expectations. Home runs by Ryan Zimmerman, Tyler Moore and Michael Morse fueled the Nats attack as they tied up the season series with the Phillies in the final game.

Zimmerman’s 4th inning home run off Cliff Lee came right after Teddy won the President’s Race for this first time. The man know how to rise to the occasion.

Moore knocked in Morse after a double in the 4th. Moore also homered in the sixth.

Morse homered in the 8th.

Jackson’s win was his 10th in 21 decisions.

Over 37,000 tickets were sold for the Wednesday afternoon game, pushing the season average over 30,000.

So, what do I do about my mayor’s bet with the Ombudsman? The Cheesesteak/Half-Smoke Challenge ends tied at 9 each. I joked the other day that we needed to stuff a half-smoke in a cheesesteak and split it two ways.

I predicted the Nats would win 86 games this season; they won 12 more and have a chance to win up to 11 more in the playoffs. Wow.

The Nats travel to either St. Louis or Atlanta to face the Cardinals or Braves in game 1 one of the NLDS on Sunday, time TBD. Count on an afternoon game though.