PHILADELPHIA -- For a while, it looked like Johnny Vander Meer would have some company.

After Max Scherzer pitched a no-hitter in his previous outing, the right-hander was perfect through 5 1/3 innings Friday night, flirting with baseball immortality.

Ultimately, Scherzer showed he was human but still dominant in leading the Washington Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Scherzer (9-5) failed to throw back-to-back no-hitters as Vander Meer did in 1938, the only pitcher to ever do so, but finished with two hits allowed in eight innings to help the streaking Nationals (41-33) win their season-high seventh straight game.

"It's an unbelievable feat," Scherzer said of Vander Meer. "It seems so improbable he was able to do that.

"Once you get through the order the first time through, you know you have something going. But it's hard. It takes luck and when you make mistakes, they have to mis-hit it."

Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis lined a double down to right field to break up Scherzer's bid at perfection.

The game before Scherzer's no-hitter, the 30-year-old dazzled with 16 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout. In his last three starts, Scherzer is 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA, 33 strikeouts and one walk.

"You're facing the best pitcher in baseball right now," Philadelphia starter Aaron Harang said. "The streak he's on, you just have to be ready to go. He came out dominant and finally we were able to crack him."

And while the Nationals kept humming along Friday, the Phillies (26-49) fell to a major league-worst 23 games below .500, capping an ugly day in which manager Ryne Sandberg abruptly resigned before the game.

Third base coach Pete Mackanin was a loser in his debut as Philadelphia's interim manager.

"Pretty uneventful strategically," Mackanin said. "I didn't have to make any huge moves or anything like that. There just wasn't a whole lot going on for much of the game until we got to (Scherzer) later."

Before Scherzer allowed a run in the bottom of the sixth, Washington starting pitchers went 48 straight innings without allowing a run, a franchise record. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the modern era record (since 1900) for consecutive scoreless innings by a team's starting staff is 56 by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903.

"He was really good again," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "Complete comfort and dominance."

The Nationals offered Scherzer some healthy run support as Harang couldn't shake his struggles. Harang (4-10) gave up five runs (four earned) in six innings to lose his seventh straight start, the longest skid of his career.

"I just made some dumb pitches," Harang said. "You can't go out and give up three 0-2 hits in a game. I know better than that. It's frustrating for myself to put (my teammates) in that situation.

"For me, my standards, that's unacceptable."

After posting a 1.93 ERA in his first 10 starts, the 37-year-old has a 6.56 mark in his last six outings.

Washington center fielder Michael Taylor went 2-for-5 with two runs and right fielder Matt den Dekker hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning.

Phillies pinch-hitter Ben Revere hit a solo homer and right fielder Domonic Brown drove in a run.

In the bottom of the ninth, Brown went too far rounding third base on a single by left fielder Cody Asche and was caught in a rundown for the final out of the game with the tying run coming to the plate.

"Dom's got to realize that his run doesn't mean anything and almost anticipate he's not going to be sent," Mackanin said. "He was just very aggressive trying to make something happen. It was the wrong move."

The Nationals took advantage of some ineffectiveness by Harang to grab a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Taylor led off the game with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a two-out infield single to second base by catcher Wilson Ramos.

The run could have been prevented with a strong throw from Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez, but it appeared he was obstructed by second base umpire Jerry Meals as he attempted to fire to first

Nonetheless, Washington capitalized on a wild Harang, who also hit third baseman Yunel Escobar with a pitch in the opening inning.

After three quiet innings from both sides, the Nationals struck again in the top of the fifth, starting with Scherzer.

The pitcher led off with a sharp single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Danny Espinosa. Things got uglier for the Phillies when Brown dropped a two-out fly ball for an error that gave Washington another run and a 3-0 lead.

"The error cost (Harang) and the play with the umpire interference, there's no rule that allows us to get anything out of that, so that was unfortunate," Mackanin said.

Meanwhile, the Phillies couldn't sniff first base through five innings as Scherzer didn't allow a baserunner. He finally did, as well as some runs, but that was just fine -- he didn't have to be perfect.

NOTES: Nationals INF Nationals Anthony Rendon was placed back on the 15-day disabled list before Friday's game with a left quadriceps strain. Rendon missed the first 52 games of the season because of the injury. The Nationals selected the contract of IF Emmanuel Burriss from Triple-A Syracuse to fill Rendon's spot. ... Phillies OF Ben Revere received the day off and Odubel Herrera started in center field. Revere entered Friday hitting .384 since June 3, third best in the major leagues. ... Nationals 3B Yunel Escobar left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch on the left hand in the top of the first inning. ... Nationals OF Denard Span was scratched before Friday's game because of a back spasm. OF Matt den Dekker was inserted into the starting lineup to take his place. Span came into the game hitting .301 this season.