(Sports Network) - Coming off a less-than-stellar road trip, the Philadelphia Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park tonight for the opener of a three-game series with the Washington Nationals, losers of 10 in a row.

The Phillies headed out west last week with a two-game lead in the National League East, but were swept in four games by the Los Angeles Dodgers to fall into second place behind the New York Mets, who currently lead the division by 1 1/2 games.

Philadelphia avoid further damage by taking two of three from San Diego over the weekend, but hardly got its cold bats going in that set. After getting outscored 22-16 in Los Angeles, the Phillies won a pair of low-scoring one-run games in San Diego while also dropping an 8-3 test.

Pat Burrell had the lone solo homer in Friday's 1-0 win over the Padres and went deep again in Sunday's 2-1 victory. Jayson Werth also drove in a run, while Cole Hamels got his first win since July 3 with eight solid innings.

The Phillies now return home, where they play their next nine games, for a stand that ends with two matchups against the Mets. Philadelphia is 32-27 as the host this year.

One player who may not enjoy the return home is shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who made headlines last week while in Los Angeles when he referred to Philadelphia fans as "front-runners" during a television interview. The reigning NL MVP is hitting .266 with eight homers and 42 RBI in 100 games this year, one season after batting .296 with 30 homers and 94 RBI.

Rollins is hitting .310 at home hit year, but is just a career .247 hitter in 132 games against Washington with nine homers and 49 RBI. That includes a .231 average (9-for-39) against the Nats this year.

Joe Blanton makes his sixth start for the Phillies tonight and lasted just five innings on Wednesday versus the Dodgers. He allowed four runs on nine hits in the no-decision and is 1-0 with a 4.00 earned run average with Philadelphia.

The right-hander has faced the Nationals just once in his career, allowing four runs over six innings in a loss on June 9, 2005 as a member of the Oakland Athletics.

The Phillies do draw a Nats team tonight that has lost 10 straight games, good for the franchise's longest skid since the Montreal Expos lost 11 in a row from June 23-July 4, 1991. Philadelphia has also won five straight over Washington and six of nine meetings with the Nationals this year. The Phils won the season series with the Nationals by a 12-6 margin in 2007.

Washington was swept in three games by Colorado over the weekend, dropping Sunday's finale, 7-2. Lastings Milledge had a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Nationals, while Pete Orr knocked in the other run.

Milledge is now hitting .315 (28-for-89) with five homers, 13 RBI and 10 runs scored in 23 games since returning from a right groin injury on July 24 that sidelined him for 20 games.

Washington will send Jason Bergmann to the hill tonight, and he is 2-9 with a 4.51 ERA this year. After defeating Colorado on August 7 with seven innings of one-run ball, the right-hander allowed 10 runs (6 earned) on eight hits and six walks over three innings of a setback to the Mets on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Bergmann is 0-2 with a 3.80 ERA in 10 games (7 starts) lifetime versus the Phils, having posted two no-decisions against them this year.