PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Brett Myers allowed one run in six innings and delivered an RBI double as the Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the slumping San Diego Padres with a 5-1 victory Sunday.
Ryan Howard had three hits, including an RBI double, for Philadelphia, which went 9-4 on its homestand and has won 26 of its last 39 home games.
Ramon Hernandez had three hits for San Diego, which went 0-6 on a road trip to New York and Philadelphia and has lost a season-high seven in a row overall. Third baseman Joe Randa, acquired Saturday from Cincinnati, made his Padres debut with a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning.
Myers (8-5) retired 12 of his first 13 batters and left after allowing five hits, striking out six and walking one in his second straight win.
Ryan Madson and Rheal Cormier each pitched an inning and Billy Wagner got the final three outs.
Philadelphia, which was last in the NL with 148 doubles, jumped on starter Brian Lawrence (5-10) for three two-base hits and four runs in the fourth inning.
Bobby Abreu doubled and scored on Howard’s double. With two outs, Lawrence intentionally walked Mike Lieberthal, but the strategy backfired as Myers helped his own cause with a run-scoring double. Jason Michaels followed with a two-run single to pad the lead to 4-0.
San Diego, which hadn’t scored in its previous 18 innings, got on the board in the sixth when Brian Giles’ sacrifice fly scored Dave Roberts.
Abreu’s RBI single off reliever Clay Hensley made the score 5-1 in the seventh. The All-Star outfielder was just 7-for-31 (.226) with three RBIs on the homestand.
Myers used strikeouts to escape jams in the fifth and sixth innings.
He struck out three in the fifth, including Damian Jackson and Lawrence with runners on first and third. With two more runners on base in the sixth, Myers fanned Geoff Blum to end the threat.
Lawrence worked six innings, allowing four runs and five hits. He walked two – both intentional – and struck out four.
Notes: INF Matt Kata, acquired by the Phillies on Thursday for Tim Worrell, made his Phillies debut with a pinch-hit single in the seventh. … The Phillies have won 12 of their last 15 games against the Padres. … Hernandez was charged with two passed balls, doubling his season total. … Since going 22-6 in May, the Padres are 17-30.
AP-ES-07-24-05 1610EDT
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