Phillies clinch third straight NL East title

PHILADELPHIA – Kyle Kendrick pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Pedro Martinez as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 10-3, Wednesday to clinch their third straight National League East crown.

Raul Ibanez hit his career-high 34th homer and Jimmy Rollins had a double and triple for Philadelphia, which is heading to the postseason for the third straight year for the first time since Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and crew won three consecutive division titles from 1976-78.

Kendrick (3-1) gave up two hits and struck out four. Martinez lasted just four innings, allowing three runs and six hits in his first start since a neck strain forced him out of a game at Atlanta on Sept. 19.

At Denver, Todd Helton, Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki each hit a two-run homer as Colorado moved closer to a playoff spot by beating Milwaukee, 10-6.

The Rockies lead the wild card by four games over Atlanta with four to play. They also pulled within 2 1/2 games of NL West-leading Los Angeles, which is off Thursday before hosting Colorado for three games to finish the season.

Prince Fielder, Mike Cameron and Casey McGehee homered for the Brewers. Jeff Suppan (7-12) got the loss.

Jason Hammel (10-8) became the fifth Colorado pitcher to reach double digits in wins this season, going five innings and giving up four runs and seven hits.

At San Diego, Clayton Richard stopped Los Angeles from clinching the NL West title, throwing seven sharp innings to lead San Diego to a 5-0 victory.

The Dodgers equaled their season high with their fourth consecutive loss, failing once again to secure its second consecutive division title for the first time since 1977-78. They beat Pittsburgh 8-4 on Saturday night to wrap up a playoff berth.

Los Angeles has dropped six of eight overall, all on the road to sub-.500 teams.

At Atlanta, Ricky Nolasco struck out nine straight Braves and finished with 16 strikeouts – the most by a major league pitcher in more than two years – as Florida held on for a 5-4 victory over Atlanta. (AP)