It's been a long season for the Washington Nationals and specifically Canadian pitcher Shawn Hill, who has spent all but five weeks on the disabled list.

Fortunately for the right-hander, general manager Jim Bowden cut short his rehabilitation assignment at triple-A Columbus and recalled Hill for Tuesday's home start against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nationals starter Shawn Hill was shut down last August because of soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow.
(Nick Wass/Associated Press)

"We have a responsibility to put our best team out there and our best team has Shawn Hill on the mound on Tuesday," Bowden told the Nationals official website. "I think we owe it to those teams in a pennant race."

Hill, 26, will pitch in a meaningful game for the first time since May 11 when he left a no-hit bid against Florida after the fifth inning with a sore right elbow and left shoulder strain.

The native of Georgetown, Ont., was Washington's best pitcher at the time, having allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of eight starts while sporting a 3-3 record with a 2.70 earned-run average.

"If I had never been on the DL before, it wouldn't have been as frustrating," Hill, who has held opponents to a .204 batting average this season, told the Washington Post Monday. "But the fact that I've been on the DL so much in my career, it's like: 'I'm sick and tired of this. Let's go. I just want to pitch.'"

Hill traced his latest injury to an April 20 game against Florida when he rounded third base and dove back to the bag, jamming his left shoulder. He aggravated the shoulder two starts later and then altered his delivery to compensate for the injury, resulting in tendonitis in his right elbow.

Hill finds 'natural release point'

The pitcher posted a 1.50 ERA in three rehab starts covering 12 innings, striking out four and walking one.

"There's been a progression each time out," Hill said. "I've found more of a natural release point. I feel like I can throw more to a certain spot.

"Hopefully, I come right out and maintain somewhere close to the numbers I was putting up before."

Hill was shut down last August because of soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow. While he experienced tightness in his right forearm before his first spring start this year, Hill went on to yield just four earned runs in 26 1/3 innings (1.37 ERA) over six starts.

He is 2-1 in three career starts against the Phillies with the 5.09 ERA in 17 2/3 innings.

At 54-64, Washington is last in the National League East division, 8 ½ games behind second-place Philadelphia (62-55), which trails the San Diego Padres by one game in the NL wild-card race.

Right-hander Kyle Lohse looks for his second straight win in a Philadelphia uniform after he was acquired from Cincinnati at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

The Phillies have won five of eight from Washington this season after dropping 10 of the 19 matchups a year ago.