NEW YORK (AP) - Ryan Howard hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and Cole Hamels finally beat a familiar nemesis, pitching the Philadelphia Phillies past the slumping New York Mets 5-2 on Saturday night.
Hamels (7-2) struck out a season-high 10 and walked none over seven innings to win his third straight outing and improve to 3-9 in 15 career games against the Mets. The left-hander had lost five consecutive starts against them.
This time, he recovered from a shaky start to retire his final 11 batters - five by strikeout - without allowing a ball out of the infield.
Jose Contreras worked a perfect eighth and Ryan Madson got three quick outs for his 11th save in as many tries. Philadelphia pitchers set down the last 17 Mets after Ronny Paulino's fourth-inning single.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
