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Behind Hamels and Howard, Phils inch closer to wild card

Sep 14, 2008 - 2:10 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies are finally providing Cole Hamels some run support.

Ryan Howard had a two-run single as the Phillies staked Hamels to an early five-run lead and went to post a 7-3 victory over the slumping Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

Jimmy Rollins added a two-run home run and scored three runs for the Phillies (81-67), who moved within two games of the Brewers (83-65) for the National League wild card.

Philadelphia also pulled within 2 1/2 of first-place New York (83-64) in the NL East, after the Mets split a doubleheader with Atlanta.

"To me, I think the goal is to make the playoffs," Howard said. "Objectively, you want to win the division, first and foremost. But if you can't, you settle for the wild card, because in the playoffs, all that stuff doesn't matter as much."

Ryan Braun hit his 35th homer for Milwaukee, which has lost five of its last six games.

Hamels (13-9) went 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. The lefthander has now won four of his last six starts after going nearly six weeks in July and August without a win, mainly due to lack of offensive support.

"No matter how many runs we do score, my ultimate goal is to try and go out there put (up) zeros," Hamels said. "The only thing with scoring is, it just helps. It eases the tension and the pressure and everything else."

"(Hamels) has been going out there and throwing his butt off," Howard said. "Just give him a couple of runs and let him do his thing."

Hamels threw 113 pitches during his stint before three relievers came on to finish up the game.

"I look at Hamels and I think every time he goes out on the mound, he's gonna win the game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I think he's capable of pitching big games and he does."

Philadelphia did most of the damage during the first two innings against starter Manny Parra (10-8), who entered the contest with just one win in nine starts since June 20.

Parra struck out the side in the first inning, but not before the Phillies batted around. Rollins led off with a single and scored on a double by Chase Utley. Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino added RBI singles to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.

"It's always the biggest help," Hamels said. "To be able to get that 3-0 lead, or any lead in general in the first inning, puts everything into a positive perspective. I think that's something where I'm able to feed off that, because I know that the guys are gonna score some runs."

Philadelphia tacked on two more runs in the second to increase its advantage to 5-0 on a two-run single by Ryan Howard that ended Parra's outing.

"When you fall back 5-0, you've got have your work cut out for you, but this time of the year, you don't look at that," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "It was early in the game. Anytime you fall behind in the first or second inning, you know that you still have seven cracks at trying to put something together."

Parra lasted just 1 1/3 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits. The lefthander walked three, struck out three and uncorked two wild pitches.

"(Parra) didn't have it from the beginning," Yost said. "He struggled right from the outset of the game. Lately, it's been a bit of a struggle for Manny to limit the damage."

The Brewers were handed two runs in the fourth courtesy of Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell. With two outs, Burrell misplayed a catchable fly ball by Jason Kendall into a double that pulled Milwaukee within 5-2.

Rollins' two-run homer in the sixth made it, 7-2, before Braun added a solo shot in the eighth to complete the scoring.

"They were able able to drop in two runs, but that was all they were able to get from Cole," Rollins said. "Cole kept them at bay until we were able to tack on two more of our own."