Phillies hammer Braves 14-1

FROM THE MORNING CALL

HILADELPHIA — Raul Ibanez homered and drove in six runs to back eight strong innings by Cole Hamels in the Philadelphia Phillies' 14-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

Hamels (11-4) allowed three hits while striking out six and walking two. The left-hander, who was selected to his second All-Star team but won't pitch due to Sunday's start, allowed just one hit after the second inning and retired his final 13 batters.

Philadelphia, which had 17 hits and scored four runs in 21 innings in the first two extra-inning games of the series, finished with a season-high 20 hits.

John Mayberry Jr. had three doubles and drove in a career-high four runs and Michael Martinez, filling in for injured All-Star third baseman Placido Polanco, had four hits for the Phillies.

Martinez, who entered batting .192, raised his average to .229.

The Phillies took two of three in the series to increase their lead to 3 1/2 games over Atlanta in the NL East. Philadelphia (57-34) matched the club record for wins in the first half, tying the 1993 team.

Derek Lowe (5-7) allowed 10 hits in four innings, and the Phillies tagged reliever Cory Gearrin for six runs in one-third of an inning.

Dan Uggla doubled to extend his hitting streak to six games and scored for the Braves (54-38), who had won nine of 10 entering the series.

Hamels was the third straight All-Star starter to face the Braves in the series, following Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Unlike his two heralded teammates, who earned no-decisions despite pitching well, Hamels earned a victory thanks to the offensive support.

Philadelphia led 4-1 before breaking the game open in the seventh with six runs on five hits and two walks. All of the runs were charged to Gearrin. The scoring was capped by Mayberry's two-run double, his third of the game. Ibanez and Brown also had two-RBI hits in the frame in which the Phillies sent 10 batters to the plate.

The crowd of 45,853, the 172nd sellout and third-largest in Citizens Bank Park history, did the Tomahawk Chop in the inning in mock imitation of Braves fans at Turner Field.

Philadelphia added four more runs in the eighth, highlighted by Ibanez's three-run homer to right off Scott Proctor.


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