Yankees' Wright and Co. fire three-hit shutout vs. Phillies

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The way the bullpen pitched after him, Jaret Wright might keep making early exits.

He combined with four relievers on a three-hitter to lead the New York Yankees to a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

Wright (4-4) gave up three hits, struck out a season-high six in five innings and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Johnny Damon went 3-for-3 with an RBI for New York, which has won two straight after losing eight of 11.

"They've been super," Wright said of the bullpen, which tossed four hitless innings. "Guys coming in like that and giving us the chance to score more runs and keeping the game right where it was, I thought it was big."

Wright, who walked four, hasn't pitched more than six innings in any of his 11 starts this season. Ron Villone, Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera each threw one inning.

"He pitched his tail off," Yankees manager Joe Torre said about Wright. "He could have gotten a little tired in the fifth inning. He made pitches when he had to. He'll get there. He's still working on stuff. Hopefully it gets a little more comfortable for him."

Cole Hamels (1-3) pitched seven strong innings for the Phillies, who finished 2-7 on their only homestand this month to fall to 35-37.

A night after Ryan Howard put on a tremendous power display with two homers, one triple and seven RBI, the Yankees shut him down. Howard went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and the rest of Philadelphia's offense wasn't any better.

Jimmy Rollins had two hits and Aaron Rowand had the other. Only two runners reached second base.

"Hamels kept us in the game, but we couldn't score," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Hamels bounced back from two poor starts with his longest outing so far, allowing two runs and six hits. He had six strikeouts and three walks.

A first-round draft pick in 2002, Hamels dazzled the Yankees in his spring training debut in 2004. He pitched two shutout innings, striking out the first three batters he faced -- Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Tony Clark -- on changeups.

But New York got clutch hits against the rookie left-hander in his sixth major league start.

"They're the best team money can buy. You just have to go out there, compete and battle," Hamels said.

Wright gave the Yankees the only run they would need. After Miguel Cairo tripled over center fielder Rowand leading off the fifth inning, Wright hit a drive that left fielder Pat Burrell ran down at the warning track in left-center to make it 1-0.

Jeter's two-out RBI single in the seventh put New York ahead 2-0. Melky Cabrera doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on Cairo's sacrifice. But he was thrown out at the plate on pinch-hitter Andy Phillips' grounder to shortstop Rollins. After Damon walked, Jeter lined a single to right-center to score Phillips.

Cabrera, Cairo and Damon had RBI singles with two outs in the eighth.

"If you're going to win close games, you have to come up with some of those two-out hits," Jeter said. "I thought we had some good at-bats. As the game progressed, I thought our at-bats got a little bit better."

Game notes
A sellout crowd of 45,111 was the second-largest in the 3-year history of Citizens Bank Park. The biggest was 45,449 against the Mets last June 23. ... Phillies 2B Chase Utley was hitless in four at-bats. He's in an 8-for-57 slump. ... Phillies LHP Randy Wolf allowed six runs and six hits in 3 2-3 innings in a rehab start at Double-A Reading. Wolf had elbow surgery last July 1. ... Wright hasn't thrown more than 96 pitches this year. ... Rodriguez was 0-for-2 with two walks and one hit by pitch, ending his seven-game hitting streak. ... Villone struck out Utley and Bobby Abreu in the sixth. Left-handed batters are 4-for-37 with 13 strikeouts against him. ... The Phillies have been shut out twice.