Howard, Burrell go deep; Phils in first with Mets
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| Regular Season Series |
| Series tied 9-9 (as of Thu 9/27) |
| Mon 4/2 |
ATL 5, @PHI 3 |
Recap |
| Wed 4/4 |
ATL 3, @PHI 2 |
Recap |
| Thu 4/5 |
ATL 8, @PHI 4 |
Recap |
| Mon 4/30 |
@ATL 5, PHI 2 |
Recap |
| Tue 5/1 |
PHI 6, @ATL 4 |
Recap |
| Wed 5/2 |
@ATL 4, PHI 3 |
Recap |
| Fri 5/25 |
PHI 8, @ATL 3 |
Recap |
| Sat 5/26 |
PHI 6, @ATL 4 |
Recap |
| Sun 5/27 |
PHI 13, @ATL 6 |
Recap |
| Fri 8/10 |
@PHI 5, ATL 4 |
Recap |
| Sat 8/11 |
ATL 7, @PHI 5 |
Recap |
| Sun 8/12 |
@PHI 5, ATL 3 |
Recap |
| Mon 9/3 |
@ATL 5, PHI 1 |
Recap |
| Tue 9/4 |
PHI 5, @ATL 2 |
Recap |
| Wed 9/5 |
@ATL 9, PHI 8 |
Recap |
| Tue 9/25 |
ATL 10, @PHI 6 |
Recap |
| Wed 9/26 |
@PHI 5, ATL 2 |
Recap |
| >Thu 9/27 |
@PHI 6, ATL 4 |
Box Score |
| · Complete Schedule: Phillies | Braves |
| Scoring Summary |
| ATL | PHI |
 | 1st | S Victorino reached on bunt single to pitcher, J Rollins to third, J Rollins scored, S Victorino to third on throwing error by pitcher J Smoltz. | 0 | 1 |
| 1st | C Utley safe at first on error by first baseman M Teixeira, S Victorino scored. | 0 | 2 |
| 1st | R Howard homered to right, C Utley scored. | 0 | 4 |
| 3rd | P Burrell homered to left, A Rowand scored. | 0 | 6 |
 | 6th | C Jones homered to left, E Renteria scored. | 2 | 6 |
| 6th | M Teixeira homered to left. | 3 | 6 |
| · View complete Play-By-Play |
| Game Information |
| Stadium | Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA |
| Attendance | 40,589 (93% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:34 |
| Weather | 80 degrees, cloudy |
| Wind | 11 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Ed Rapuano, First Base - Ed Hickox, Second Base - C.B. Bucknor, Third Base - Joe West |
| A CLOSER LOOK |
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• Summary: The Phillies continued their domination of Braves starter John Smoltz, including home runs from sluggers Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell, to pull even atop the NL East with the Mets, who lost 3-0 to the Cardinals.
| |  | |
| Burrell |
• One-sided matchup: Smoltz (14-8), who gave up six runs and seven hits in four innings, hasn't beaten the Phillies since July 1, 2005. It was his shortest outing since going 3 1/3 innings on May 29, and only the fourth time in 32 starts he allowed more than three earned runs. • Piling it on early: Philadelphia scored four times before Smoltz recorded an out, capped by Howard, who turned on an inside pitch and lined it into the right-field seats to make it 4-0.• Quotable: "It's a good feeling. But, really, we haven't done anything. We have three games left. This is what it's all about." -- Howard
-- ESPN.com news services
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Phillies 6, Braves 4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The
Philadelphia Phillies are done chasing.
After 159 games, the Phillies are finally atop the division standings -- albeit tied with the free-falling
New York Mets.
Ryan Howard hit his 44th homer,
Pat Burrell also connected and the Phillies roughed up
John Smoltz, before hanging on for a 6-4 victory over the
Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.
The collapsing Mets lost 3-0 to St. Louis to drop into a tie with Philadelphia (87-72) for first place. Both teams have three games left. The Phillies host Washington, which is coming off a three-game sweep at Shea Stadium. The Mets host Florida.
| Division Magic Numbers |
|
The magic number is derived by adding one to the number of
remaining games and subtracting the number of games ahead in the
loss column from the second-place team. Here's where the leaders stand: |
| AL EAST |
| x-Red Sox | 2 |
| AL CENTRAL |
| x-Indians | Won division |
| AL WEST |
| x-Angels | Won division |
| NL EAST |
| Mets | 4 |
| Phillies | 4 |
| NL CENTRAL |
| Cubs | 2 |
| NL WEST |
| D-backs | 3 |
| x-clinched playoff spot |
"It's a good feeling," Howard said. "But, really, we haven't done anything. We have three games left. This is what it's all about."
Chipper Jones and
Mark Teixeira hit consecutive homers for the Braves, who were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight year after winning 14 straight division titles.
While the Phillies celebrated their 11th win in 14 games, a crowd of 40,589 cheered wildly and waved their white-and-red "Fightin' Phils" towels.
For a change, there were no "E-A-G-L-E-S" chants at Citizens Bank Park.
"I couldn't hear myself think. That was great," closer
Brett Myers said.
Kyle Kendrick (10-4) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
Tom Gordon escaped a jam in the seventh,
J.C. Romero pitches a scoreless eighth and Myers allowed a leadoff homer to
Jeff Francoeur in the ninth before getting three outs for his 21st save in 24 chances.
The Phillies hadn't spent a day in first place all season, and were seven games behind the Mets after losing to Colorado on Sept. 12. They came in one game behind San Diego in the wild-card standings. The Padres played at Milwaukee.
After falling short in the final weekend the last two seasons, the Phillies could be heading to the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Meanwhile, Atlanta is going home for the second straight year after their unprecedented string of division championships.
Desperate to keep their faint playoff hopes alive, the Braves got a poor performance from an unlikely source. Smoltz (14-8) gave up six runs -- five earned -- and seven hits, striking out eight in four innings. It was his shortest outing since going 3 1/3 innings on May 29, and only the fourth time in 32 starts he allowed more than three earned runs.
"Everybody here can improve on their year and I'm looking forward to it," Smoltz said of next season.
The Braves sliced Philly's lead in half when Jones hit an opposite-field, two-run homer and Teixeira followed with a solo shot to cut it to 6-3 in the sixth.
The Phillies scored four times before Smoltz recorded an out. Rollins hit Smoltz's first pitch up the middle for a single and
Shane Victorino put down a perfect bunt on the next offering. Smoltz didn't have a chance to get the speedy Victorino, but threw anyway and the ball ended up down the right field line. Rollins scored and Victorino went to third.
Two pitches in, the Phillies led 1-0.
Chase Utley followed with a grounder to first baseman Teixeira. The normally sure-handed Teixeira booted it for an error, allowing Victorino to score.
Howard then turned on an inside pitch and lined it into the right-field seats to make it 4-0.
"Their offense is very good," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
In his next at-bat, Howard swung at and missed a down-and-away splitter for his 196th strikeout to set the single-season major league record. He broke the mark established in 2004 by
Adam Dunn of the
Cincinnati Reds.
Last season's NL MVP, Howard has 130 RBIs. He struck out again in the fifth.
After Howard fanned,
Aaron Rowand doubled. Burrell then hit a towering drive that just cleared the wall in left-center for his 30th homer, giving the Phillies a 6-0 lead.
Burrell was 2-for-26 with 14 strikeouts lifetime against Smoltz before he homered.
"I told (Manuel) last night that I'm bound to do something," Burrell said. "He made a mistake and I finally hit it."
Kendrick mowed down the Braves until the sixth. The rookie right-hander has saved Philadelphia's depleted pitching staff since coming up from Double-A Reading after
Freddy Garcia went down for the season in June.
"It's exciting, but we still have work to do," Kendrick said.
Game notes Burrell moved into fifth-place on the Phillies' all-time list with his 218th career homer, passing Cy Williams. ... Rollins needs two more at-bats to set the single-season major league record. Willie Wilson had 705 at-bats for Kansas City in 1980. ... Smoltz hasn't beaten the Phillies since July 1, 2005. ... Teixeira homered in each of the three games in Philly.
Phillies 6, 
Braves 4