PHILADELPHIA — Cole Hamels received some overdue run support from his Philadelphia Phillies teammates.

Pat Burrell homered and matched his career high with five RBIs, and Hamels pitched seven effective innings to lead Philadelphia past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-2, yesterday.

"Cole's been pitching outstanding all year," said Chase Utley, who scored three times. "We haven't given him the best run support, but every game we feel like we have a great chance to win when he pitches. And again he pitched great today."

Burrell put the Phillies ahead with his 30th homer, a three-run shot down the left-field line in the first inning. He got a gift RBI double in the fifth when Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp lost a routine fly in the sun, then capped his big day with an RBI single in the sixth.

Burrell also equaled a season high by scoring three runs as Philadelphia won for the fifth time in six games to move within 1 1/2 games of the NL East-leading New York Mets. He entered the day with two RBIs in his last nine games.

"He's been the type of guy that has been plugging away," Hamels said. "Unfortunately, he hasn't had the best couple of weeks, but he's been a player in there working hard every single day. So for him to come up with the big hit in the first inning definitely got us out in front, and I think that was huge."

Hamels (11-8) allowed two runs and five hits while striking out five and walking none to lower his ERA to 3.20. Philadelphia totaled five runs in his previous three starts.

"He's pitched some good ballgames where he got some losses and he's pitched some real close ones where he didn't get any decisions," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "His record definitely could be better."

The Phillies have scored only nine runs over Hamels' last six losses, but their hitters had no such problems yesterday.

Ryan Howard doubled and drove in two, and Shane Victorino had two RBIs for the Phillies, who have scored 17 runs in consecutive wins over the Dodgers after entering Friday night with 61 runs in 19 games (3.1 per contest) in August.

Astros 8, Mets 3: Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer in a victory over host New York. Berkman finished with three hits and four RBIs. David Newhan added his first homer of the season and Miguel Tejada drove in a pair of runs for the Astros, who are 3-5 following an eight-game winning streak.

Cubs 9, Nationals 2: Aramis Ramirez hit a pair of three-run homers and Ryan Dempster matched a career high with his 15th win for host Chicago. Mark DeRosa homered in his third straight game and Alfonso Soriano added an RBI double for the NL Central leaders, who improved to 48-19 at Wrigley Field. Dempster (15-5) allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings.

Brewers 6, Pirates 3: Ryan Braun homered, doubled and drove in three runs, leading Jeff Suppan and host Milwaukee past Pittsburgh for its third straight victory. The NL wild-card leaders moved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since finishing the 1992 season 92-70 in the AL East.

Braves 8, Cardinals 4: Pinch-hitter Greg Norton delivered a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning, and Atlanta beat host St. Louis to snap a six-game losing streak. Albert Pujols homered and drove in three runs for the Cardinals, who dropped 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the wild-card race.

Diamondbacks 7, Marlins 1: Yusmeiro Petit pitched six solid innings and host Arizona padded its NL West lead, getting home runs from Chris Young and Miguel Montero in a victory over Florida. Petit (3-3) allowed two hits and struck out six, matching season bests. The Diamondbacks stretched their division lead over Los Angeles to three games.

Giants 4, Padres 3: Rich Aurilia tripled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Barry Zito (8-15) allowed four hits in eight innings to help the host Giants match their season-best four-game winning streak.

Rockies 7, Reds 6: Matt Holliday hit a three-run double that highlighted a seventh-inning rally, sending host Colorado past Cincinnati. The Rockies trailed 5-3 when Holliday hit reliever Nick Masset's first pitch off the right-field wall. Brad Hawpe followed with an RBI single.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RAYS 5, WHITE SOX 3: Carlos Pena's two-run single capped a four-run eighth inning, and visiting Tampa Bay increased its AL East lead to 5 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston. Pena's bases-loaded single off Matt Thornton broke a 3-all tie and sent Tampa Bay to its 11th win in 14 games.

Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 0: Vernon Wells hit two home runs, Marco Scutaro added a solo shot and the Blue Jays roughed up Jon Lester for seven earned runs in a rout of Boston.

Yankees 5, Orioles 3: Pitching in the major leagues for the first time since April 2007, Carl Pavano (1-0) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings for visiting New York. Jason Giambi hit his 25th homer and drove in three runs, and Hideki Matsui had a solo shot for his 500th career RBI.

Tigers 4, Royals 0: Zach Miner pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Miguel Cabrera hit his third homer in two games to reach 100 RBIs and Detroit handed the host Royals their seventh straight loss.

Angels 7, Twins 5: Mark Teixeira went 3 for 3 with a home run, and Francisco Rodriguez closed out another strong bullpen performance, lifting host Los Angeles past Minnesota, ending the Twins' four-game winning streak. Rodriguez earned his major league-leading 49th save, combining with Darren Oliver (5-1) and Scot Shields for 4 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit relief.

Athletics 5, Mariners 1: Dana Eveland made a smooth return to the majors, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning and helping visiting Oakland defeat Seattle. Promoted back to the A's from Triple-A on Thursday, he beat Seattle for the third time this season and tied a career high with seven strikeouts.

Indians 8, Rangers 7: Pinch-hitter Jamey Carroll singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and visiting Cleveland rallied from a six-run deficit to win its sixth straight game.