Utley's 2 homers help Phillies win 5th straight

[March 19, 2010]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Chase Utley homered twice and drove in three runs, Pedro Feliz added a three-run shot and the Philadelphia 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 ace Cole Hamels early for the second consecutive start. The left-hander came out in the fifth inning after spraining his left ankle trying to field John Lannan's bunt.

Hamels, making his fourth start, appeared to be on his way to his first win. He allowed four hits and struck out four in 4 1-3 innings, leaving with a 5-0 lead.

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 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.

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.

Notes: Nationals manager Manny Acta said 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.

[Associated Press]

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