Chase Utley helped Philadelphia jump to a big lead with an RBI in each of the first two innings Friday and the Phillies went on to down the New York Mets 7-2. Philadelphia returned home after a 3-6 road trip and promptly opened a key series with the Mets by scoring seven runs in the first three innings. The early surge allowed the Phillies to regain a one-game lead over Florida in the National League East.

Willie Aybar drove in three runs Thursday, one of them on a solo homer, helping rally the Tampa Bay Rays to a 10-4 victory over Philadelphia. The Phillies scored four times in the first inning but were shut out the rest of the way by four hurlers who combined to strike out 10. Jason Bartlett had two hits and drove in a run, setting a Tampa Bay record by hitting successfully in his 19th straight game. After Philadelphia's four-run first, Tampa Bay came back with three of its own in the inning, two of them coming on a homer by Ben Zobrist. Aybar's homer in the second tied the game and Carl Crawford put the Rays ahead later in the frame with an RBI double.

Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino homered in the seventh Sunday and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the LA Dodgers 7-2 for a split of their four-game series. Ruiz had two hits and three RBI, Victorino had two hits and two RBI, Ryan Howard hit a solo homer and Pedro Feliz drove in a run and scored two for the Phillies, who improved to 5-2 on their current 10-game road trip. Philadelphia starter Antonio Bastardo (2-0) went five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk to get the victory -- his second as many major league starts.

Raul Ibanez drove in five runs on his 37th birthday Tuesday to boost the Philadelphia Phillies past the San Diego Padres 10-5. Ibanez had a pair of home runs for red-hot Phillies, who won their major league-leading 18th game on the road and 30th of the season. Antonio Bastardo (1-0) won in his first major league start by holding the Padres to four hits and one run over six innings.