• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Phillies strike first in NL East showdown

Sep 6, 2008 - 3:27 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- It is September, and the Philadelphia Phillies again are chasing the New York Mets in the National League East. Another dominating performance by Brett Myers closed the gap on Friday.

Myers pitched eight innings and combined with Brad Lidge on a five-hitter as the Phillies drew first blood with a 3-0 victory.

Greg Dobbs hit a two-run homer for the Phillies (77-64), who defeated the Mets (79-62) for the sixth time in 16 meetings and moved within two games of first-place in the NL East.

Daniel Murphy had two of the four doubles by the Mets, who lost for the sixth time in their last 23 games.

The Mets collapsed down the stretch last September, squandering a seven-game lead with 17 to play as the Phillies surged to the division crown. The Phillies are trying to keep the heat on the Mets once again, and Myers' performance in the opener of the last regular season series between the teams was an important step.

"This sets the tone (for the series), especially because of the way Brett pitched," Dobbs said.

Myers (9-10) outdueled Mike Pelfrey and improved to 6-1 in nine starts since being recalled from the minors on July 20.

The 28-year-old cooled off one of the hotter teams in baseball. The Mets were fresh from a 6-2 road trip that concluded with a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

"That's definitely his best game of the year. He pitched one heck of a game and he gave our bullpen a little rest," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Myers allowed three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out 10 for his third double-digit strikeout game of the season and 11th of his career.

"He made it look easy out there," Lidge said.

Myers' ERA over his last four starts is 0.58 and he has struck out at least eight batters in each of his last five starts.

"It sure didn't feel easy. I was working as hard as I could," Myers said. "I was making the quality pitches when I had to. Those extra two runs made it a little easier."

Lidge allowed two hits in the ninth before earning his 34th save in as many opportunities by getting Ryan Church on a line drive to center for the final out. It was the Phillies' 11th shutout.

"Pelfrey kept us in the game. We ran into a guy that pitched a little better tonight," said Mets third baseman David Wright, who was left stranded at third for the final out. "He kept us off balance."

Dobbs gave Myers some breathing room in the seventh when he belted a two-out two-run homer that glanced off the glove of right fielder Ryan Church and over the wall.

"I thought he caught it. My heart about stopped," Dobbs said. "It would have been an unbelievable play."

The home run scored Ryan Howard, who walked to lead off the inning.

The Phillies had manufactured a run in the first when Shane Victorino singled with one out, stole second and went to third when the throw from Brian Schneider went into center field. Victorino then scored on a groundout by Chase Utley.

Pelfrey (13-9), who had won his previous three decisions, allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.

"There wasn't a lot of extra pressure. I was just trying to make pitches," Pelfrey said. "I made a mistake and (Myers) was on his game."

Myers allowed a one-out double to Murphy in the first and a leadoff double to Carlos Beltran in the second, but worked out of trouble each time. Myers struck out the side in the second and fanned seven through the first four innings.

The Mets did not have a runner as far as third base until the ninth.