PHILADELPHIA — Now, the Philadelphia Phillies can rest and prepare to defend their World Series title.
Kyle Kendrick pitched three scoreless
innings in relief of Pedro Martinez and the Phillies beat the Houston
Astros 10-3 Wednesday night to clinch their third straight NL East
crown.
Raul Ibanez hit his career-high 34th
homer and Jimmy Rollins had a double and triple for Philadelphia, which
is heading to the postseason for the third straight year for the first
time since Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and crew won three consecutive
division titles from 1976-78.
The Phillies are trying to become the
first repeat champions since the New York Yankees won three World
Series in a row from 1998-2000. The Cincinnati Reds were the last NL
team to win two straight in 1975-76.
J.R. Towles, a career .187 hitter (43
for 230), hit a pair of solo homers off Martinez, a three-time Cy Young
Award winner. But the Astros couldn't spoil Philadelphia's party.
Kendrick (3-1) gave up two hits and
struck out four. Martinez lasted just four innings, allowing three runs
and six hits in his first start since a neck strain forced him out of a
game at Atlanta on Sept. 19. Brad Lidge, who has 11 blown saves after a
perfect season last year, came in to get the last out after Scott Eyre
retired the first two batters in the ninth.
Astros starter Brian Moehler (8-12) gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.
A crowd of 45,207 — the 38th straight
sellout at Citizens Bank Park — waved their white and red "Fightin'
Phils" rally towels throughout the night and made the atmosphere
festive.
Celebrations are becoming common for
the Phillies, who used to be the NL's laughingstock. The losingest team
in professional sports has been thinking dynasty since winning the
franchise's second championship in 126 years last October.
Unlike the last two years, the
Phillies didn't sweat out this division title. They moved into first
place for good on May 30 and have spent 136 days atop the standings.
In 2007, the Phillies trailed the
Mets by seven games with 17 remaining. They took advantage of New
York's historic collapse and clinched the division on the final day of
the regular season, ending a 14-year postseason drought.
Players and fans had a wild celebration and Philadelphia was promptly swept by Colorado in the division series.
Last year, the Phillies were 3 1/2
games behind the Mets with 17 to play. They caught them during the
final week and clinched on the next-to-last day of the regular season.
With four games left this year,
manager Charlie Manuel has a chance to rest his regulars and set up his
postseason pitching rotation. The Phillies still have a chance to
secure home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. They entered
the night 1 1/2 games behind Los Angeles.
Martinez, who is 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA
in nine starts, struggled from the start. He walked Hunter Pence to
force in a run in the first and gave up homers to Towles in the second
and fourth.
Towles' drive to left-center in the
second was initially ruled a double, but umpires changed the call after
reviewing the video. He easily cleared the left-field wall his next
time up to give the Astros a 3-1 lead.
But the Phillies answered with four
runs in the bottom half. Shane Victorino singled and stole second
before Chase Utley walked. Ryan Howard followed with an RBI single.
Utley scored when Ibanez hit a bouncer to the mound and Moehler threw
it into center field for an error. Howard advanced to third and Ibanez
ended up on second.
Jayson Werth's RBI groundout put the Phillies ahead for good. Pedro Feliz doubled in another run to make it 5-3.
Rollins and Victorino hit back-to-back triples to start Philadelphia's fifth. Ibanez's sacrifice fly made it 7-3.
Notes
The Phillies are 31-11 at
home since July 1. They were 13-22 the first two months. … Houston's
Miguel Tejada extended his hitting streak to 17 games. … Ibanez hit
33 homers for Seattle in 2006.