Phillies Inch Closer To NL East Crown With 1-0 Victory Over Braves

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Ibanez drove in the game-winning run for the second straight game after hitting a two-out, two-run double in Tuesday’s 5-3 victory. Carlos Ruiz added two hits in the victory, Philadelphia’s 10th straight and 18th in 21 September games.

Roy Oswalt was masterful on the mound, allowing one hit and a walk in seven shutout innings. He struck out eight, as the Phillies won for the 10th straight time with their mid-season acquisition on the mound. Ryan Madson (6-2) earned the win with a perfect eighth, and Brad Lidge notched his 26th save with a scoreless ninth.

The Phillies’ magic number to clinch dropped to four.

“I think the faster that we can get it done, the better off we can be,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of clinching the division. “We can rest some of our players and get some players off the bench into the game. We can set our team up. We can’t do it right yet.”

Tommy Hanson was dealt the hard-luck no-decision after firing six scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and three walks while fanning four for the Braves, who fell six games behind the Phillies with nine games remaining.

Atlanta managed just three baserunners in the game. The Braves still hold a half-game lead in the wild card race over San Diego, which plays at Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Some timely hitting allowed the Phillies to move in front in the eighth.

With Jonny Venters (4-3) on the mound, Chase Utley was hit by a pitch leading off, but was quickly erased when Ryan Howard grounded into a double play. Jayson Werth worked a walk to keep the inning alive and led to Ibanez’s double down the left field line. Werth was able to hustle all the way around the bases for a 1-0 Philadelphia lead.

Lidge walked Jason Heyward with two outs, and Heyward stole second, but Martin Prado flied out weakly to right to end the game.

Both starting pitchers were nearly perfect.

Philadelphia notched the game’s first baserunner in the second when Werth drew a one-out walk and stole second. Ruiz, however, flied out harmlessly to right to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Oswalt pitched three perfect innings before giving up a two-out double to Prado in the fourth. The Braves, though, couldn’t cash in, as Brian McCann grounded out to first.

The Phillies put runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth, but Shaen Victorino struck out looking at a fastball down the middle to keep the game scoreless.

Hanson made it through the sixth unscathed, while Oswalt battled a fierce rain in the seventh to finish his outing without giving up a run.

With runners on the corners and two outs for the Phillies in the seventh, Placido Polanco lofted a foul ball near the side fence, and Prado was able to make a nifty sliding grab to help keep Philadelphia off the board.

Game Notes

The Phillies recorded their first three/four-game series sweep of Atlanta at home since April 20-22, 2001…The last 18-win month for Philadelphia came in 2006. It had won 17 games in each of the last three Septembers…The Phillies moved to 35-11 over their last 46 games at home…Philadelphia also improved to 28-15 in one-run games this season, the best such mark in baseball…Hanson became the first pitcher in the last eight games against the Phillies to last at least five innings. The club’s streak of seven consecutive games holding opposing starting pitchers to under five innings pitched tied a major league record.