Phillies beat Braves, catch Mets for first

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies are done chasing.

After 159 games, the Phillies are finally atop the National League East standings -- albeit tied with the free-falling New York Mets.

Ryan Howard hit his 44th home run, Pat Burrell also connected and the Phillies roughed up John Smoltz in a 6-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.

The Mets lost, 3-0, to St. Louis to drop into a tie with Philadelphia (87-72) for first place. Both teams have three games left. The Phillies, who have won 11 of 14, play host to Washington, which is coming off a three-game sweep at Shea Stadium. The Mets play host to Florida.

“It’s a good feeling,” Howard said. “But, really, we haven’t done anything. We have three games left. This is what it’s all about.”

Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira hit consecutive homers for the Braves, who were eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight season after winning 14 straight division titles.