Lee, Philadelphia blow past Atlanta

PHILADELPHIA » All those zeroes are no big deal to Cliff Lee.

Lee tossed a five-hitter for his sixth shutout of the season, helping the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies beat the second-place Atlanta Braves 9-0 on Monday night.

Lee (16-7) struck out six, walked none and needed only 100 pitches to finish off the Braves after falling one out shy of a shutout in his previous start at Cincinnati. The left-hander has won his last seven starts, five of those scoreless appearances.

He’s the first pitcher to record six shutouts in a season since Randy Johnson (Mariners/Astros) in 1998.

“I guess that’s pretty good,” Lee said with a shoulder shrug. “It is what it is. Obviously that’s a good thing anytime you pitch the whole game and not give up any runs. But I don’t think this is a time to pat myself on the back.”

The major league-leading Phillies increased their division lead to 81⁄2 games over Atlanta and reduced their magic number for clinching their fifth straight NL East title to just 16 with 25 games remaining.

Hunter Pence drove in three runs, and St. Anthony alumnus Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz each hit a two-run single to help Philadelphia rough up Derek Lowe. Ryan Howard added his 31st homer.

Lowe (9-13) allowed seven runs — five earned — and eight hits in five innings. The veteran righty had pitched well in his previous three starts, allowing just three earned runs in 18 innings.

“They dominated every aspect of the game,” Lowe said. “Sometimes you have to give credit. We got outplayed.”

Despite trailing the Phillies by a large deficit, the Braves should play into October. They lead the wild-card race by 81⁄2 games over St. Louis and San Francisco.

Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, is making a strong push to win the NL award. Teammates Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels are also in the mix. Lee picked up where he left off in August, when he was 5-0 with a microscopic 0.45 ERA. He lowered his ERA to 2.47 and surpassed 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career.

“His command is very good, he’s putting the ball where he wants to, moving his pitches around,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “On nights his curve is moving, he’s very tough.”

Fans mocked the Braves with the tomahawk chop in the eighth and ninth.

Atlanta was without Chipper Jones because of flu symptoms.

The Phillies have 20 shutouts this season.