Hamels' arm, Utley's bat leads Phils over Sox

Jun 13, 2007, 2:00 GMT

Philadelphia, PA - Chase Utley hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the Chicago White Sox, 7-3, in the second of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Utley finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and Greg Dobbs drove in two runs while Pat Burrell also had an RBI for the Phillies, who have won three of their last four games. With the win and losses by Atlanta and the Mets on Tuesday, the Phillies continued to ascend in the NL East. They are now one game behind the Braves and trail New York by three games.

Cole Hamels (9-2) turned in another stellar performance as he was charged with just two runs on six hits with a walk and eight strikeouts in eight innings of work to earn his third win in his last four starts.

Hamels now leads the National League in wins, one ahead of the Dodgers' Randy Wolf.

Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Luis Terrero each hit solo home runs for the White Sox, who have dropped seven of their past eight contests. Jose Contreras (4-7) was saddled with the loss after he gave up seven runs -- five earned -- on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first on back-to-back home runs with two outs. Konerko jumped on a 2-0 fastball and put it in the left field stands and Dye followed by hitting the first pitch he saw over the center field wall.

However, the Phillies answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Burrell worked a walk to force home Shane Victorino and Dobbs followed with a single to right field that scored Utley and Aaron Rowand for a 3-2 lead.

Philadelphia increased its lead to 5-2 in the second as Utley hit a towering two-run shot off the upper deck in right field for his 12th homer of the season.

Utley again came through for the Phillies in the fourth as he belted a single to right that plated Hamels and Jimmy Rollins for a 7-2 advantage.

Hamels settled down after his trouble in the first inning and although he allowed runners in every inning but the fifth, none of them got past second base.

Geoff Geary gave up a one-out, solo home run to Terrero in the ninth, but retired the next two batters to finish the game.

Game Notes

Hamels is 9-1 in his last 12 starts in Philadelphia...Victorino stole his team-leading 19th base. He has stolen 17 straight bases without getting caught...Utley has 52 RBI on the season...Chicago is 102-81 in interleague play while the Phillies have an 83-94 mark...After the game, the Phillies outrighted pitcher Clay Condrey to Triple-A Ottawa. Philadelphia is expected to call up Kyle Kendrick on Wednesday. He is slated to start Wednesday's game, which will be his Major League debut.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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