By Paul Newberry
ATLANTA -- Troy Glaus stayed hot with a three-run homer, Tim Hudson pitched six strong innings around a rain delay, and the streaking Atlanta Braves extended their lead in the National League East with a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
The Braves moved to 1 1/2 games ahead of two-time reigning NL champion Philadelphia with their 17th win in the last 21 games, including seven in a row. They haven't been in first this late in the season since 2005, the last of their record 14 straight division titles.
Philadelphia is heading in the opposite direction. The Phillies have lost eight of 10 and are really struggling at the plate, though Ryan Howard's two-run homer prevented them from being shut out for the sixth time in the last 10 games.
Howard grounded out against Billy Wagner with the bases loaded to end the game.
Cole Hamels (5-4) had the shortest start of his career, surrendering Glaus's homer and getting only two outs before a 1-hour, 4-minute rain delay ended his night.
Hudson (6-1) pitched a 1-2-3 first, then returned after the long delay to allow only two runs on five hits, with six strikeouts. He won his fifth straight decision.
Glaus, who had an NL-leading 28 RBIs in May, got the new month off to a good start. After Martin Prado led off with a double into the left-field corner and Chipper Jones walked, Glaus hit a hanging changeup from Hamels into the seats for his ninth homer of the season.
Three pitches after the homer, heavy rains brought out the tarp. Hamels didn't return after the storm passed, charged with two hits, two walks and three runs in the briefest of his 127 career starts.
The Braves added to their lead with two more runs in the third, one coming home when third baseman Juan Castro botched a potential double-play grounder. Yunel Escobar made it 5-0 with a run-scoring single. Melky Cabrera and Prado drove in Atlanta's final two runs.
Philadelphia finally broke through in the sixth. Howard hit his ninth homer into the Atlanta bullpen, but the Phillies haven't scored more than three runs in the last 10 games. After Wilson Valdez's RBI single off Jonny Venters, Wagner got the final out for his eighth save with the potential tying run at the plate.
How bad are things going for the defending champs?
Consider Shane Victorino's at-bat in the fifth. First, he lost his grip on a swing and the bat flew into the stands, striking a woman. She walked out for medical treatment, rubbing her right shoulder. Then, striking out on a 3-2 pitch, Victorino's bat came around and struck the mask of Braves catcher Brian McCann as he attempted to throw, wiping out a steal because of unintentional interference.
The Phillies' most frustrating sequence came in the seventh, their best chance to get back in the game.
After putting runners on first and third with no outs, Victorino popped out to first and Valdez hit into an unusual, inning-ending double play. Valdez's grounder was fielded by third baseman Chipper Jones, who made a low throw to second for the force. Prado scooped it out of the dirt and realized he had no chance to complete the double play the traditional way. But he spotted slow-running Carlos Ruiz heading home and threw to McCann, who put the tag on his fellow catcher and held on to the ball despite getting bowled over.
A second-inning single extended Hudson's hitting streak to five games.