NEW YORK (AP) -Raul Ibanez is fitting in nicely with the gritty Philadelphia Phillies.
Ibanez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the Phillies beat the New York Mets 6-3 Thursday night, handing their NL East rivals another difficult loss.
Ibanez joined the defending World Series champions for a $31.5 million, three-year contract in the offseason and is quickly making the deal look like a bargain. He is batting .322 with 21 homers and 58 RBIs in 58 games.
“He loves to play. He’s very well prepared and he gives you everything he’s got,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “Actually, when it gets right down to it, he just likes to play baseball.”
The Phillies rallied to win for the second straight game and 20th time this season, tying the New York Yankees for most in the majors. They also wrapped up a 7-3 road trip, improving to a major league-best 23-9 on the road.
“It’s a tough ballclub, a bunch of mentally strong guys in here, all 25,” Ibanez said. “I’ve been on teams before where a lot of the guys were tough and mentally tough. This team everybody is mentally tough and never gives anything away.”
ld roared. But Ibanez followed with a drive over the wall in right-center.
“They’ve got a little power and the longer you play with that fire the more risk there is,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said.
Scott Eyre (1-1) recorded the last out of the ninth to earn the win, throwing just two pitches. Ryan Madson worked the 10th for his fourth save in five opportunities and second in two days.
Jaime Moyer pitched six effective innings and Pedro Feliz had three hits for Philadelphia, which took two of three against second-place New York to increase its NL East lead to four games. Jimmy Rollins, Utley and Matt Stairs each drove in a run.
“It’s nice to be able to go on the road and feel comfortable in the environment that we’re in and play well,” Moyer said.
Rockies 5, Brewers 4
At Milwaukee, Aaron Cook pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and Rockies won their eighth straight game.
Ian Stewart homered and scored three times as Colorado won three in a row at Miller Park after completing a four-game sweep at St. Louis earlier this week.
Ryan Braun hit a three-run homer in the ninth for NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
Colorado has won eight straight on the road and is 10-4 under manager Jim Tracy, who took over for the fired Clint Hurdle on May 29.
Astros 2, Cubs 1
I single in the 13th inning for the Astros.
On Wednesday, Blum singled with the bases loaded in the ninth to lift Houston to another 2-1 victory over the Cubs.
Derrek Lee homered for the Cubs with one out in the ninth.
Diamondbacks 2, Giants 1
At Phoenix, Max Scherzer (3-4) allowed three hits over 7 2-3 dominant innings and Justin Upton homered and hit an RBI single.
San Francisco closed in the ninth on a run-scoring wild pitch by Chad Qualls, who got his 13th save in 16 chances when he struck out pinch-hitter Edgar Renteria with a runner at third.
Cardinals 6, Marlins 5
At Miami, pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning after a costly error by center fielder Cody Ross to lift the Cardinals.
Albert Pujols hit his 19th home run and Rick Ankiel added three hits for the Cardinals, who rallied for three runs in the eighth.
Ross Gload homered twice for the Marlins.
Trever Miller (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh and Ryan Franklin recorded his 14th save.
Pirates 3, Braves 1
At Atlanta, Andy LaRoche hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning to give the Pirates a split of the four-game series.
LaRoche slapped a 3-2 pitch from Rafael Soriano (1-1) up the middle for the tiebreaking hit.
Steven Jackson (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth and Matt Capps worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
Javier Vazquez gave up only two hits and one run in eight innings. He matched his season high with 12 strikeouts and took over the NL lead with 105.
Nationals 3, Reds 2
At Washington, Cristian Guzman scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips in the eighth inning.
With the bases loaded and one out, Ryan Zimmerman bounced a slow grounder to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who flipped to Phillips to force Alberto Gonzalez. As Anderson Hernandez crossed the plate with the tying run, Phillips threw wildly to first, allowing Guzman to score.
Julian Tavarez (2-4) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of John Lannan and Joe Biemel got his first save of the year, pitching a scoreless ninth.
Daniel Herrera (0-2), the Reds’ fourth pitcher of the game, took the loss.
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