NEW YORK — Ryan Howard's power. Cliff Lee's pitching. The Philadelphia Phillies appear to have all the pieces in place for another World Series run.

Howard homered twice and drove in five runs, Lee won his eighth straight start and Philadelphia beat the New York Mets 6-2 yesterday.

Lee (5-0) did not allow an earned run in seven innings, lowering his ERA with the Phillies to 0.68 in five outings since he was acquired in a July 29 trade with Cleveland. His record is 12-9 overall.

"He makes us real good," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We've got some top-notch left-handed pitchers. I kind of like that. Definitely the best rotation that we've had since I've been here."

Lee, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, yielded six hits and no walks against a light-hitting lineup that featured Fernando Tatis (six homers) in the cleanup spot. He struck out five.

Philadelphia took the final three in a four-game series and increased its NL East lead to seven games over idle Atlanta.

ROCKIES 6, GIANTS 4, 14 INNINGS:

Ryan Spilborghs hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 14th inning, giving host Colorado a come-from-behind victory over San Francisco. The Giants had taken a 4-1 lead in the top of the 14th on Eugenio Velez's two-run triple and Juan Uribe's groundout.

BREWERS 7, NATIONALS 1:

Ryan Braun hit a two-run home run to jump-start a six-run sixth inning, and Milwaukee took three of four from host Washington.