Howard's homer lifts Phillies into NL East lead

ATLANTA - Jimmy Rollins put it best as he turned to a visitor in the clubhouse in the wake of the Phillies' 8-7 win over the Braves last night and said with a smile, "I'm glad Ryan's on my team.''

Indeed, there is a reason why Ryan Howard has appeared on the field in each of the past 266 games, a reason why he is the only Phillie to play in every contest this season, a reason why during even the darkest moments of his season, when Charlie Manuel decided the struggling slugger needed some time off, the manager could not resist sending him to the plate as a pinch-hitter in a close game.

That reason went sailing over the leftfield fence at Turner Field in the top of the eighth inning last night, a two-out bomb that scored both he and Jayson Werth and lifted the Phillies to an all-important win and the National League East lead.

"I'm just trying to do my job,'' said Howard, who went 4-for-5 with three RBI and hit his 45th home run while leading the Phillies to a half-game lead over the Mets.

All game, the scores had dangled high above the leftfield wall, illuminated in yellow, etched across a dark black background. The Mets, the Astros, the Brewers - all losing, all giving the Phillies a tantalizing glimpse of a leg up in both the wild-card and division races.

But for a while, it looked as if they might squander their first major opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the pack. Veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer, making his first start since he beat the Brewers on short rest Thursday, suffered an uncharacteristic breakdown in command, issuing three walks and one hit by pitch that led to runs.

After the Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the top half of the third inning, thanks to an RBI double by Chase Utley and a two-run home run by Werth, the Braves responded by scoring three in the bottom half of the frame.

Catcher Carlos Ruiz put the Phillies back on top with a solo home run in the fourth, but the Braves scored four in the bottom of the sixth to go up, 7-4.

Moyer, who has not lost a game since Aug. 5, was charged with six runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The Phillies scored runs in the seventh on a triple by Howard and a single by Shane Victorino. But trailing 7-6 with the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Matt Stairs grounded out to first base to end the rally.

At that point, it seemed entirely possible the Phillies would fall to the Braves and fail to take advantage of the Mets' 1-0 loss to the Nationals, the Astros' 5-1 loss to the Marlins, and the Brewers' 5-4 loss to the Cubs.

But with two outs in the top of the eighth and Werth standing on first base, Howard worked a full count against lefthander Mike Gonzalez then sent the 3-2 pitch sailing over the wall in left.

Howard circled the bases, the Phillies took an 8-7 lead, and Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge shut down the eighth and ninth to close out the victory.

Howard, who improved his batting average to .249, his highest since April 3, is 19-for-45 with eight home runs and 21 RBI in his last 12 games.

"I'm just trying to go out there and do what I can to help my team make the playoffs,'' Howard said. "My focus was mainly on our game, and I looked at the scoreboard afterward to see what happened across the rest of the league.''

There were other stars besides Howard. Rollins went 2-for-5, giving him multiple hits in 10 of his last 20 games, while Werth finished 3-for-4 with three runs. Lidge flirted with disaster in the ninth, loading the bases before striking out Gregor Blanco to record his 37th save in 37 tries. And Madson pitched two perfect innings to run his scoreless innings streak to 8 2/3.

Most important, though, was the fact that the Phillies are now 84-67 and 17 games over .500 for the first time this season. They are in front of the Mets (83-67) in the division, and have a better record than wild-card contenders Houston (80-70) and Milwaukee (83-68).

With 11 games to play, they control their own destiny.

"I think that we won a big game,'' Manuel said.

They will only get bigger. *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.