Phils Dispose Of Braves, Finally Win A Series

The Phillies again flexed their muscles against the Atlanta Braves, winning 7-3, a game much like Tuesday’s. Adam Eaton pitched well enough to get a win, while the Phils offense got hits in key points to help get the victory. It got a little too close in the end, but the bottom line is the Phils retain their 1.5-game lead on the Marlins, while increasing their lead over both the Mets and Braves.

Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell both homered in the win — Howard hit a three-run shot for his 69th, 70th and 71st RBI of the season. Howard and Burrell both hit their 21st homers. Backing them up was a solid performance by the whole offense, including Jimmy Rollins, who had three hits with an RBI triple. The Phils had 13 hits and left 13 men on base — pretty darn good.

Eaton went five innings for the win, giving up two runs on five hits and five walks. He wasn’t completely reliable, but he made out pitches. The bullpen — this time comprised of Chad Durbin, JC Romero, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge — did the job yet again. Only a Chipper Jones homer off Romero hurt the ‘pen. Lidge should’ve had an easy ninth, but Howard misplayed two balls for errors. Instead, he almost surrendered a game-tying grand slam to Mark Teixeira, but struck him out in the end. At that point the game was nervously close — for the most part, it wasn’t that close of a game.

Quick notes: So Taguchi hit into a first-pitch double play in a two-run ninth. Bring up Brandon Watson now. … Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste had good nights with two hits each. … Howard’s homer was his 150th career bomb, and he reached that point in the shortest amount of games in MLB history. … The Phils won their first series since sweeping the Braves in Atlanta the second week of June. … Brett Myers gave up three runs on five hits in five innings at his Lehigh Valley IronPigs debut. Not great, but he had a lot to say, and we’ll have that tomorrow.

Associated Press photo