Howard's 2 Homers Pull in Big Win

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel knows Ryan Howard is a dangerous hitter even when he's not tracking pitches perfectly.
"You never know when he's going to stay on it," Manuel said. "He was seeing the ball. He stayed with it."

Howard homered twice and drove in four runs to back rookie J.A. Happ's strong start, and Brad Lidge earned an easy save as Philadelphia beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Sunday night.

The Phils, winners in five of six, dropped third-place Atlanta six games back in the NL East and left the Braves in a fourth-place tie with Chicago in the wild-card race.

After his solo shot made it 1-0 in the second, Howard put the Phillies up 4-1 with his 30th homer in the sixth.

"You just see it," said Howard, who has driven in a run in seven straight games with 12 RBIs over that span. "Some days you pick it up better than other days."

Howard's multi-homer game was his third this season and the 20th of his career, tying the slugger for third place on Philadelphia's career list with Dick Allen.

"The big guy's the guy that hurt us tonight," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said of Howard. "He can change a game in a heartbeat. We
held them, we just couldn't get anything going." Happ (9-2) surrendered three hits, including Matt Diaz's seventh homer in the fourth. The 26-year-old left-hander gave up one run, six walks and struck out three in 7 2-3 innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.66 and has become a solid member of the Phillies' rotation.

The Phillies are now 37-20 on the road, which is the best in the majors. They are 11-5 in their last 16 games away from Citizens Bank Park.

"Today it was Happ and Howard," Atlanta first baseman Adam LaRoche said after going 0 for 3.

"Happ shut us down, and Howard did what he does."