New York ? A day after rallying to beat Pedro Martinez, the Philadelphia Phillies took advantage of Tom Glavine’s defense and headed out of New York with the NL wild-card lead.

David Bell blooped a two-run single in the first following Glavine’s misplay of a potential inning-ending grounder, backing a strong outing by Jon Lieber and leading the Phillies over the New York Mets, 3-1, Thursday.

Ryan Howard boosted the Phillies’ margin with a 430-foot homer in the ninth off Braden Looper.

“Right now, we’re very confident. We’re not letting one loss turn into two,” said Billy Wagner, who completed the four-hitter by converting his 23rd straight save chance since May 24.

Philadelphia, which began Thursday a half-game ahead in the wild-card race, won two straight after wasting a lead in the opener of the three-game series. The Phillies head to Washington to complete their 12-game trip, then return to Philadelphia for a homestand against wild-card rivals Houston and Florida and NL East-leading Atlanta.

“Everybody’s playing each other right now,” Howard said. “People are knocking heads, Two out of three will be good anywhere you go.”

Philadelphia pitcher Jon Lieber delivers against New York. Lieber pitched the Phillies past the Mets, 3-1, Thursday in New York.

New York dropped 21â2 games behind the Phillies and left for a trip to Florida, Atlanta and St. Louis.

Lieber (13-12) threw 68 of 98 pitches for strikes, allowing four hits, striking out six and walking none. He gave up his only run in the sixth when Jose Reyes led off with a triple and scored on Kaz Matsui’s groundout.

Padres 6, Brewers 5

Milwaukee – Khalil Greene hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and San Diego crept back above .500. Former Royal Joe Randa hit his career-high 37th double with one out in the eighth.

Astros 3, Reds 1

Houston – Roy Oswalt remained perfect against Cincinnati, and Houston swept the three-game series. The right-hander improved to 15-0 in 19 appearances against the Reds, the most wins without a loss by any pitcher against one team in major-league history.

Braves 8, Nationals 7, 10 innings

Atlanta – Andruw Jones gave his MVP campaign another boost, leading off the bottom of the 10th inning with a towering homer that sent Atlanta past Washington. The Braves squandered a 7-1 lead before salvaging a split of the four-game series.