shine on

The spotlight in the National League East was claimed by Washington and Philadelphia on Tuesday night, much to Atlanta’s chagrin. Former Mississippi State star Tyler Moore hit a big home run for the relentless Nationals and ex-MSU standout Jonathan Papelbon nailed down another save for the surging Phillies. The Braves, seemingly back in an offensive funk, lost to Milwaukee 5-0 and fell 7½ games behind first-place Washington. Philly, meanwhile, climbed to 71-71 and is back in the NL wild card picture. The Phillies were 14 games under .500 on July 13. On Tuesday, Moore belted a two-run pinch homer off New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, giving the Nationals a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning of a game they would win 5-3. “I’ve failed so many times. … I’m just learning about situations in the game,” the humble Moore told mlb.com. The rookie has two pinch homers among his nine for the season and is batting .283. Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth on Tuesday to finish off a 9-7 win over Miami. He has 33 saves and five wins. But the ultra-competitive closer indicated his team hasn’t accomplished anything just by reaching .500. “Ain’t nobody here need an ego boost, you know?” he told mlb.com. P.S. Just for the record, former Delta State standout Eli Whiteside is back on San Francisco’s active roster as the first-place Giants’ No. 3 catcher. He has yet to get in a game this month.