Beauty-Ecke » 11. The Yankees hope to extend that run tonight

After another game-ending RBI, teams might think twice about intentionally walking Chase Utley to get to Ryan Howard. Howard singled with two outs in the ninth inning after pinch-hitter Marlon Byrd had a tying hit and the Philadelphia Phillies pulled out a 7-6 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday. "Youre not out of it until 27 outs," said Howard, who was mobbed by his teammates near first base after the hit. "It was a little hectic but, you know what? Ill take it." Utley singled, tripled, homered and drove in three runs for the Phillies, who snapped a five-game skid against the Mets. Lucas Duda and Travis dArnaud homered for New York. The Mets appeared positioned for their 12th victory in the last 13 games against the Phillies in Philadelphia before the ninth. Cody Asche led off with a double off Jenrry Mejia (5-5) and scored when Byrd lined a hit up the middle. Two outs later, Byrd stole second and, after getting the count to 3-2, the Mets intentionally walked Utley. Howard followed with a single to right on a full-count pitch. The beleaguered slugger, who recently was benched for three games, pointed skyward after rounding first before getting mobbed by his teammates near first base. "Thats big for his confidence," said Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg, who benched a slumping Howard for three days in late July. "Hes been in these situations before. Right guy in the right place." Ken Giles (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to cap four innings of scoreless relief by three Phillies bullpen arms. It was the second time in six games Howard faced the scenario. The Astros walked Utley for Howard on Tuesday and the Philadelphia slugger singled home the winning run in Philadelphias 2-1, 15-inning victory. "I wasnt surprised at all," Howard said. "The winning run on second base and I didnt have any hits. I still have great confidence. I feel real good about my swing." While Howard wasnt surprised, Mejia was. "I want to finish (against Utley) but Im not the manager," Mejia said. "I have to do whatever the manager wants me to do. A little bit surprised but I cant do anything. Terry Collins is the manager. Im just the player. I have to do whatever he wants me to do." Collins stood by his decision. "Im not going to let (Utley) beat me," he said. "Howards been struggling. Youve got to make him beat you. In my book, thats the way I look at it." Zack Wheeler allowed three runs on three hits in six innings. He is 4-0 with a 1.94 ERA in his last eight games. Kyle Kendrick extended his struggles this season. The right-hander was charged with six runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits in five innings. "He struggled with balls over the plate," Sandberg said. TRAINERS ROOM Phillies: Prized prospect Jesse Biddle makes his second start for Class-A Clearwater on Monday since being shut down for a mental break on June 23. The 2010 Phillies first-round pick tossed five no-hit innings to earn the victory in Clearwaters 4-0 win last Wednesday against Daytona. Mets: Rookie right-hander Jacob deGrom will be evaluated in New York on Monday after experiencing shoulder soreness in the days following Thursdays start against Washington. DeGrom, who is 6-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 16 starts, will not make his scheduled start on Tuesday against the Nationals. ... Mejia revealed after the game that he has been struggling with a hernia problem for the last three weeks. "Doctors say if it bothers me too much to let him fix it, but I dont want to let him know because I want to keep pitching," Mejia said. UP NEXT The teams close out the four-game series at 1:05 p.m. Monday when Phillies right-hander David Buchanan (6-5, 4.39) faces New York lefty Jonathon Niese (5-8, 3.51). Buchanan is filling in for injured lefty Cliff Lee, who is out for the season with an elbow strain. Niese has lost four straight games. EXCELLENT EDGIN Mets left-handed reliever Josh Edgin struck out all four batters he faced. Edgin is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA with 19 strikeouts and three walks in 22 innings. "Hes done a nice job," Collins said. "He got us to the ninth inning with the lead, which is what you want." BROWNS MISCUE After David Wright opened the third with a single and Duda flew out, dArnaud lifted a medium fly to left field that Brown appeared to pull up on too soon. Fans booed the left fielder, who has experienced offensive and defensive troubles this season. "It appeared to be catchable," Sandberg said. Cheap Twins Jerseys . The Oilers have been shut out in three straight home games and are in last place in the Western Conference with a 4-14-2 record. "Things have obviously not gone as well as I would have thought probable. Zack Littell Twins Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. https://www.cheaptwins.com/312t-zack-littell-jersey-twins.html .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak. Paul Molitor Twins Jersey .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games. Kent Hrbek Jersey . - Connor Brown and Dane Fox both scored in regulation and in the shootout, as the Erie Otters extended their win streak to 10 games by defeating the London Knights 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action.(SportsNetwork.com) - Having lost consecutive starts for the first time this season, Toronto hurler Mark Buehrle watched on Tuesday as New York rookie sensation Masahiro Tanaka passed him for the major league lead in victories. Buehrle will now try to join Tanaka in the 11-win club on Wednesday and even the Blue Jays three-game series with the AL East-rival Yankees. The resurgent Buehrle picked up his 10th win of the season on June 1, but followed up with a tough-luck 5-0 setback to St. Louis six days later as he was charged with just one run over seven innings. The lefty then struggled a bit in a 4-2 setback to Baltimore on Thursday, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk in 6 1/3 frames. The loss dropped Buehrle to 10-3 on the year with a 2.28 earned run average. "There were times I made a lot of mistakes, and they made me pay for them," Buehrle told Torontos official website, "and then I made a few good pitches, and they put the ball in play and got some base hits." Buehrle will need to avoid the mistakes tonight given his history with the Yankees. The 35-year-old has made 16 prior starts against them, going a mere 1-10 with a 6.02 ERA. Tanaka secured his major league-leading 11th victory with last nights 3-1 victory, settling down from allowing a solo homer to Jose Reyes on the games first pitch to shut down the Blue Jays for the rest of his six-inning performance. Tanaka struck out 10 batters and moved in line for the victory following Brett Gardners two-run homer off Toronto hurler Marcus Stroman in the third inning. Tanaka lowered his ERA to an AL-best 1.99 and he is second in the league with 113 strikeouts. "What hes done is remarkable," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi of Tanaka. "He has been a big part of our success this year and continues to grind out starts, make adjustments and give us distance. He wins." Derek Jetter and Kelly Johnson each had two hits and a run scored to help New York halt a two-game skid with its fifth victory in seven games.dddddddddddd The Yankees also moved to within 3 1/2 games of the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. With Tanaka leading the charge, Toronto hitters fanned a total of 15 times on the evening en route to their 14th consecutive defeat at Yankee Stadium, the longest active streak by one team at a particular venue. Stroman allowed just two runs, but lasted only 3 2/3 innings while throwing 98 pitches in Torontos seventh loss in 10 games. "We had some good at-bats, we hit some balls hard early on, and then it just disappeared," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons remarked. "(Tanaka) pretty much shut us down. But hes good. Theres a reason hes doing what hes doing." New Yorks 14-game home winning streak over the Jays is the longest by one team over another since Toronto topped Baltimore 16 straight times at Rogers Centre from 2009-11. The Yankees hope to extend that run tonight behind Chase Whitley, who takes the mound four days after his 25th birthday. Whitley opened his major league career with four straight no-decisions, failing to pitch longer than five innings in any of those outings. However, the righty has improved on that in back-to-back wins, logging seven frames to beat Kansas City on June 6 before pitching 7 2/3 innings in a 6-3 win over Seattle on Thursday. Whitley held the Mariners to a pair of runs on five hits while striking out six to zero walks, giving him a 2.41 ERA heading into his first ever meeting with the Blue Jays. Toronto is expected to have center fielder Colby Rasmus back in the lineup tonight for the first time since May 12 as he returns from a strained right hamstring. Rasmus, hitting .222 with nine homers and 19 RBI in 37 games, made his sixth and final rehab appearance on Tuesday with Triple-A Buffalo. ' ' '