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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -
Cole Hamels
had another painful start in otherwise easy victory for the
Philadelphia Phillies
.
Chase Utley
homered twice and drove in three runs,
Pedro Feliz
added a three-run shot and the Phillies beat the
Washington Nationals
7-1 Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory.
Raul Ibanez
also went deep for the Phillies, who won despite losing their ace early for the second consecutive start. Hamels came out
in the fifth inning after spraining his left ankle trying to field
John Lannan
's bunt.
X-rays on Hamels' ankle were negative and the pitcher said he was planning to make his next start, although it will depend
on how he responds to treatment.
''There's some frustration, almost comedy,'' said Hamels, who missed a chance to earn his first victory, but lowered his ERA
to 7.27. ''Last time I felt like I was doing really well. This time I felt like I was finally getting in a good grove again.
I don't know what else to do but laugh about it.''
Hamels allowed four hits and struck out four in 4 1-3 innings, leaving with a 5-0 lead.
''It didn't look that good, hopefully it's not too bad,'' Utley said about Hamels' injury.
The World Series MVP left last Thursday's start against Milwaukee with a bruised left shoulder after being hit by
Prince Fielder
's line drive with one out in the fourth.
Chad Durbin
(1-0) came on in relief of Hamels and allowed only
Adam Dunn
's sixth-inning homer in 3 2-3 innings.
''Durbin was a key in the game,'' Nationals manager Manny Acta said. ''He shut us down. We couldn't take advantage after Hamels
went out.''
Durbin got plenty of help from the Phillies offense. Utley had three hits and Ibanez led off the eighth with a homer to left-center,
his seventh this season. He also had a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of Monday night's 13-11 win.
''We have a lot of good hitters from top to bottom,'' Utley said. ''We can swing the bats pretty well.''
The fast-starting Utley upped his average to .357 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 19 games.
''Utley's definitely swinging the bat real good,'' Phillies manager
Charlie Manuel
said.
Ryan Zimmerman
extended his major league-leading hitting streak to 17 games with a first-inning double off the left-field wall for Washington
(4-15), which has lost five of six and owns baseball's worst record.
Zimmerman's streak is the longest for the Nationals organization but trails the franchise record of 31 set in 1999 by
Vladimir Guerrero
with the Montreal Expos.
The Phillies scored five times in the third on a two-run homer to right by Utley and Feliz's shot to left. Utley led off the
fifth with a solo drive to right, giving Philadelphia a 6-0 advantage.
Utley is 8-for-14 with five RBIs off Lannan (0-3), who gave up six runs - three earned - and nine hits in five innings.
''He made a lot of mistakes in the strike zone, especially with Utley,'' Acta said of Lannan. ''We're scoring enough runs
most nights. It's a matter of putting things together.''
Notes: Acta said before the game
Joel Hanrahan
no longer will be the team's closer. Instead, he'll rely on veterans such as
Kip Wells
and
Julian Tavarez
in a closer-by-committee, basing who pitches on matchups. Washington's
Nick Johnson
went 0 for 4, snapping his 11-game hitting streak.
Jesus Flores
is 1 for 14 with eight strikeouts against Hamels.
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