WASHINGTON – Starter Stephen Strasburg allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman had two one-run scoring hits as the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on Sunday for their first series win of the season.

Strasburg (1-1) retired the first 14 batters before catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a soft, clean single to left with two outs in the fifth. Strasburg then walked second baseman Cesar Hernandez but got Ben Revere, the left fielder, to ground out to short to end the inning.

His shutout bid was broken on a RBI single with one out in the eighth by shortstop Freddy Galvis to make it 4-1.

Drew Storen pitched the ninth for the Nationals and got his fourth save as he retired pinch-hitter Chase Utley for the final out with two runners on base.

Strasburg (seven strikeouts, five hits allowed) got plenty of support from Zimmerman, whose RBI single up the middle in the seventh gave Washington a 4-0 lead against reliever Dustin McGowan.

The Nationals (6-7) scored three in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. With two outs center fielder Denard Span singled and then scored on a double down the left field line by shortstop Ian Desmond, who has eight hits in his last three games.

Desmond then scored on a single by left fielder Jayson Werth. After an intentional walk to right fielder Bryce Harper, Zimmerman had a bloop double to right to score Werth.

The uprising came against starter and loser David Buchanan (0-3), who gave up six hits and three runs in five innings after he entered the game with an ERA of 11.42.

A right-hander from California, Strasburg entered the game with an ERA of 6.75 and had allowed 19 hits over 10 2/3 innings in his first two starts, including a career-high 10 hits given up in Boston on Tuesday.

The Nationals went 1-2 in each of their first three series of the year against the New York Mets, Phillies and Red Sox. Philadelphia (4-9) lost three of four to Washington and has dropped seven of its last eight.

Catcher Wilson Ramos also had two hits for Washington and Harper reached base in 11 of his 16 trips to the plate in the series.

NOTES: Washington CF Denard Span, who had right core muscle surgery March 9, was activated off the 15-day disabled list and was in the lineup as the leadoff hitter. Span hit .302 last season and had a career-high 31 steals with 39 doubles. To make room for Span, OF Michael A. Taylor was sent to Triple-A Syracuse. Taylor hit .271 in 12 games with the Nationals this year after he made his big-league debut last August. Span was 5-for-12 in minor league rehab games with the Class A Hagerstown (Maryland) Suns of the South Atlantic League. ... Umpire Brian McKnight, who was hit in the facemask with a pitch Saturday and had to leave the game in the ninth inning, was replaced on the crew for Sunday's game by Tom Woodring, who was at third base. ... Philadelphia will start RHP Jerome Williams (0-1, 4.09) on Tuesday at home against Miami and RHP Dan Haren (1-0, 2.08), a former Washington pitcher. ... After an off-day Monday, the Nationals will start LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 5.11) on Tuesday against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals and RHP Lance Lynn (1-1, 1.04).