Phillies Hold off Diamondbacks 4-3

Cole Hamels gave up a home run to the second man he faced — Ryan Roberts, who has three career homers.

Philadelphia Phillies' Shane Victorino is congratulated by teammates and manager Charlie Manuel after Victorino hit a home run in the third inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 28, 2009, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP)

"It was just kind of something unexpected," Hamels said.

Hamels shook it off and dominated, allowing one run in eight innings as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Shane Victorino hit a solo homer, his eighth, and added an RBI double and a single as the NL East leaders improved to a majors-best 19-5 in July.

The Phillies had to survive a shaky ninth inning by Brad Lidge, who picked up his 20th save in 26 opportunities.

Lidge gave up a two-run homer to Mark Reynolds, who hit a 2-1 delivery into an upper-deck restaurant in left field to slice Philadelphia's lead to 4-3. Lidge retired the next three men to nail down the victory.

But on this night the story was Hamels. He looked as sharp as he did last autumn, when he was named MVP of the World Series and the NL championship series.

Hamels gave up four hits, walked none and struck out nine. He won back-to-back starts for the first time since June 4.

"Hamels is getting there," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's real close."

Asked what he's looking for from Hamels, Manuel smiled and said, "I'm looking for him to throw shutouts and no-hitters."

Hamels outpitched Arizona ace Dan Haren (10-6), who entered with an NL-low 2.14 ERA. Haren lost for only the second time since May 12.

"Going up against Haren, you know he's not going to allow too many runs," Hamels said.

After Roberts' shot into the pool area in right-center field gave Arizona a 1-0 lead, Hamels found his groove and began mowing down the Diamondbacks.

Hamels allowed back-to-back singles in the third, then retired 17 of 19 batters — and one reached on an error.

"From the very first hitter, I knew I was able to locate," Hamels said. "I knew I was definitely going to be able to feel it today and just go out there and try to pitch my own game."