Lee tosses another gem, shuts out Braves

PHILADELPHIA - September 5, 2011

Lee (16-7) struck out six, walked none and needed only 100 pitches to finish off the Braves after falling one out shy of a shutout in his previous start at Cincinnati. The left-hander has won his last seven starts, and hasn't allowed a run in five of those games.

The major league-leading Phillies increased their lead to 8 1-2 games over Atlanta and reduced their magic number for clinching their fifth straight NL East title to just 16 with 25 games remaining.

Hunter Pence drove in three runs, Ryan Howard hit a solo homer and Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz each had two-run singles to help Philadelphia rough up Derek Lowe.

Lowe (9-13) allowed seven runs - five earned - and eight hits in five innings. The veteran righty had pitched well in his previous three starts, allowing just three earned runs in 18 innings.

Despite trailing the Phillies by a large deficit, the Braves should play into October. They entered with an 8 1-2-game lead over St. Louis for a wild-card berth.

Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, is making a strong push to win the NL award. Teammates Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels are also in the mix. Lee picked up where he left off in August when he was 5-0 with a microscopic 0.45 ERA. He lowered his ERA to 2.47 and surpassed 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career.

Pence gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the first. Placido Polanco and Chase Utley hit consecutive one-out singles. After Howard walked to load the bases, Pence hit a bouncer past third baseman Martin Prado.

Victorino added a two-out, two-run single in the fourth. Both runs were unearned because of an error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez on a bouncer hit by Ruiz that put two runners on.

Victorino advanced to second on the throw to the plate after his single. He stole third and kept on running home when the ball skipped past catcher Brian McCann. But Lowe covered in time to tag out Victorino, who stopped a couple feet short of the plate, ducked and tried to sneak under Lowe's tag.

Utley hit a triple high off the right-field fence with one out in the fifth. After Howard was intentionally walked, Pence ripped an RBI double just inside the first-base bag. Ruiz added a two-run single that made it 7-0.

Howard lined a solo shot out to right in the eighth for his 31st homer.

Howard also made an outstanding over-the-shoulder, sliding catch in front of the railing after running a long way down the right-field foul line in the fifth. He got a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd of 45,267. It was the 205th consecutive sellout at Citizens Bank Park, including postseason play.

Fans mocked the Braves with the tomahawk chop in the eighth and ninth.