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Howard, Hamels lead Phillies to sweep of Braves

May 27, 2007 - 9:34 PM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels helped the Philadelphia Phillies do something they haven't done in over 20 years - sweep the Atlanta Braves in a three-game set in Atlanta.

Howard homered twice and drove in four runs and Hamels hurled six effective innings to lead the Phillies to a 13-6 rout over the Braves on a smoky Sunday at Turner Field.

The Phillies had struggled against the Braves earlier this season, dropping five out of their first six games to Atlanta and getting swept in their season-opening set at Citizens Bank Park.

But that all changed this weekend, as the Phillies outscored Atlanta, 27-13, to sweep a three-game set from the Braves for the first time in Atlanta since July 21-23, 1986.

"(Atlanta) was playing pretty well," Philadelphia third baseman Greg Dobbs said. "They came in our place and took three from us. It was big to come into their place. We played hard and we played well and got over .500."

Howard and the Phillies wasted no time deciding the outcome of this one.

Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a triple and was plated two outs later on a 376-foot homer by Howard. It was the first long ball from the reigning National League MVP since he was activated from the disabled list on Friday.

"Right now, it's just one game," Howard said. "I saw a good pitch and took advantage of it."

"I was one pitch away in the first inning before getting out of it," Atlanta starter Kyle Davies said. "I hung a changeup, and he hit it out."

Howard added a two-run blast in the eighth off Atlanta reliever Chad Paronto. It was the eighth multi-homer game for the lefty slugger and first of the season.

"(Howard) is one of the big things for us," Hamels said. "He's a top-notch player. He's been battling to find his swing. I think he's feeling a lot more comfortable."

The season-high 13-run outburst by the Philadelphia offense was way more than Hamels (7-2) would need. The lefthander allowed three runs and six hits, struck out eight and walked one in six frames to record his fifth win in six May starts.

"I was lucky enough to get (a win) out of it," Hamels said. "I know I didn't have my best stuff. I was a little bit up. If the team goes ahead and scores a lot of runs, it's definitely more comfortable for me."

The Phillies (26-24), who started the season by dropping 11 of their first 15 games, inched two games over .500 for the first time this season and improved to 13-6 in their last 19 games at Turner Field.

"It's huge any time you come into Atlanta and sweep the Braves," Howard said. "Getting a game over .500 and two games over .500 is huge too. It's a step in the right direction."

Philadelphia sent 11 men to the plate in a seven-run fifth to put the game away.

Davies (2-3) loaded the bases with one out ahead of Aaron Rowand, who ended the righty's night with an RBI single. Dobbs, who homered in the first, followed with a run-scoring single and reliever Macay McBride forced in a run by issuing a bases-loaded walk to Carlos Ruiz to extend the advantage to 7-1.

Peter Moylan relieved McBride but could not stop the Philadelphia attack, surrendering an RBI single by Michael Bourn. Hamels lifted a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies a 9-1 lead and Rollins capped the frame by plating Ruiz and Bourn with a double.

"In the fifth inning, we were trying to keep it close," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "It ended up being a seven run inning. It just wasn't a very good day for the most part."

With the smoke from wildfires burning more than 200 miles away on the Georgia-Florida border permeating the ballpark, Davies pitched like he was in a fog. The righthander yielded eight runs and eight hits, walked two and struck out two in 4 1/3 disastrous innings.

"I didn't have the location I've had my last start," Davies said. "Obviously, we didn't play as well as we wanted to. You never want to get swept, especially at home."

Jarrod Saltalamacchia smashed his first major league homer in the second and Andruw Jones homered for the first time since May 11 with a blast off Hamels in the sixth.

Scott Thorman drove in a run with double in the fifth and Willie Harris plated two with a single in the ninth for Atlanta, which was swept for the first time this season.