ATLANTA -- The Philadelphia Phillies have started winning again, just in time to claim their 100th victory and start gearing up for the playoffs.
Cliff Lee pitched six strong innings, Jimmy Rollins homered and Raul Ibanez drove in two runs, rallying the NL East champions past the slumping Atlanta Braves 4-2 on Monday night.
The Phillies, who snapped an eight-game losing streak on Sunday, overcame an early 2-0 deficit to earn just the third 100-win season in franchise history.
Not that it will matter later in the week, when the playoffs begin.
"Last year we had the best record in baseball and we didn't win (the World Series)," Shane Victorino said. "It's nice to win 100 games but ultimately, when the postseason starts, that all goes out the door."
The Phillies sure didn't go easy on the Braves, even though their trip to the playoffs was in the bag weeks ago. Lee (17-8) threw 92 pitches after manager Charlie Manuel said the left-hander probably would be limited to 70 in his final tuneup before the playoffs.
Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson pitched the final two innings, with Madson earning his 32nd save.
"We went out there and played like we always do," Manuel said. "I look at our guys, I think we're ready to win right now."
The Braves tried to rally at the end, but they couldn't string together any hits ? a familiar theme for a team that has scored only three runs in the last three games. Lidge gave up a walk and a single in the eighth, but Chipper Jones grounded one sharply to second baseman Chase Utley, who started the double play that sent many in the announced crowd of 42,597 heading for the exits.
In the ninth, Dan Uggla lined one to left off Madson that got under the glove of a diving Ibanez. Uggla pulled up at second with a double and that's where he stayed. Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann struck out swinging before pinch-hitter Jason Heyward grounded out to first to end it.
The Braves, who came into the night with a once-comfortable lead in the wild-card race shaved to a single game over St. Louis, lost their third in a row and seventh in the last 10. Their September record dropped to 9-16, sending a margin that had been 8 1/2 games three weeks ago to the verge of being totally wiped out.
St. Louis needed a win at Houston to pull even with two games remaining, but the Cardinals lost 5-4 in 10 innings. With that game still in progress, the Braves began clearing out of the clubhouse, not even checking a score on their phones. All the televisions were switched off.
"This is a tough loss for me," said Freeman, who came up three times with a runner at second and failed to come through. "The last thing I want to do is watch another ballgame."
Ditto for the senior member of the team, 39-year-old Jones.
Barely able to run on an ailing right knee, he homered in the first to get the Braves started quickly, but hit into an inning-ending double play in the eighth with the potential tying runs aboard.
He wasn't paying attention to the charging Cardinals.
"I don't really care about that," Jones said. "I'll find out what they did later on tonight or tomorrow. Right now, I'm just trying to flush this one and start focusing on Roy Oswalt," who'll start Tuesday for the Phillies.
The Braves tried to lighten the mood before the game. Backup catcher David Ross entertained his teammates with his impression of the crusty manager in the movie "Major League."
Early on, it seemed to work. Jones drove his 18th homer into the left-field seats, then Matt Diaz and Alex Gonzalez had back-to-back doubles in the second.
"Everybody was swinging free and easy. We were ready to play," Jones said. "After the first two innings, I would've given us a 99.9 percent chance to win the game."
The Braves had not led a game in three days, but they didn't fare any better playing out front.
"I attribute it more to good pitching than a lack of hitting," Jones said. "I'll take that showing. We battled for 27 outs and all nine innings."
In the fourth, Philadelphia broke through against 21-year-old rookie Randall Delgado, making just his seventh big league start. Hunter Pence got it started with a one-out single. Ryan Howard lined another hit to right-center and Victorino walked to loaded the bases. Delgado made a bid to escape the jam, retiring Ibanez on a foul popup, but Placido Polanco followed with a sharp single up the middle to bring home Pence.
The slow-running Howard had to stop at third, and Carlos Ruiz flied out to center with the Braves still leading 2-1. It didn't last long. Rollins tied it in the fifth, lining a low pitch over the right-field fence for his 15th homer.
Delgado was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom half, having surrendered five hits. The Phillies pulled ahead against the Atlanta bullpen.
With one out in the sixth, Victorino yanked one down the right-field line off Cristhian Martinez (1-3) and sped all the way to third for a triple, just beating the relay throw. Eric O'Flaherty took over for Martinez, and the Braves pulled in the infield looking to cut off the go-ahead run. But Ibanez grounded one sharply past diving first baseman Freeman, and Victorino trotted home to make it 3-2.
Ibanez added another run-scoring hit in the eighth off Jonny Venters.
Lee looked shaky in the beginning, giving up four extra-base hits to the first eight Atlanta hitters. But he settled down after that, retiring the next 12 in a row.
Jones ended Lee's dominance with one out in the sixth, lining one to the gap in left-center that hopped over the wall for a ground-rule double. But, showing the desperation of a struggling team, Uggla struck out on three pitches ? the last one hopping in front of the plate ? and Freeman hit a soft liner to shortstop Rollins.
"I just wanted to win because we expect to win every game," said Lee, who allowed five hits and struck out six. "For us, it's more getting everything going in the right direction."
NOTES: The Braves activated LHP George Sherrill from the 15-day disabled list. He had been out since Aug. 27 with elbow inflammation. ... Struggling Derek Lowe (9-16) will start for the Braves against Oswalt (8-10). Lowe is 1-3 with a 4.13 ERA in four starts against the Phillies this season. Oswalt is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA vs. the Braves this season, but only 1-3 with a 5.15 ERA in 10 career starts.
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