Phillies defeat Reds, 3-2

CINCINNATI - The bigger picture, Charlie Manuel often says, is something he'd rather not think about. He'll accuse those around baseball of overthinking those simple principles the Phillies manager holds true to his heart. Invariably, a chat with Manuel leads to another repetition of his doctrine: The top priority - always - is to win that day.

"There's a lot of teams looking down the road," Manuel said. "There's a lot of people in a lot of organizations saying, 'We've got it made, we're in.' And they're backing off. You didn't get there by backing off."

The Phillies did just that and still won Monday. It was a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, a game in which Manuel removed a dominant Cole Hamels after merely six innings and 76 pitches because there is plenty of baseball remaining.

They had endured five days without a victory, mostly because of Hurricane Irene's wrath, and that made Monday sweeter. Shane Victorino's timely two-run blast in the eighth inning provided the 84th win of a season still on pace to smash franchise records. But the most important victory was not gained in the standings.

"I hope we keep that Cole the rest of the way," Victorino said. "He did a wonderful job tonight. I think he's back."

Hamels, pitching for the first time in 17 days, was brilliant. He returned to Great American Ballpark for the first time since a start that ended with a champagne shower last October. Questions about inflammation in his left shoulder were quickly eased.

In those six innings, Hamels fanned seven Reds and allowed two hits. His fastball velocity was slightly less than normal, but pitching coach Rich Dubee anticipated rust. It was far improved from his last start that prompted two weeks of concern and a stint on the disabled list.

Hamels said he felt no pain in his shoulder.

"If I ever did, I never would have made a start," Hamels said. "Because it's so late in the season, I want to be able to finish the season healthy and go into the postseason healthy. That's the ultimate goal."

The Reds were fortunate to even score once off Hamels. Only when Hunter Pence overran a fly ball to deep right and slipped on the warning track did Brandon Phillips reach on a fourth-inning triple. It was Cincinnati's first hit of the game, and a hit only by definition of the word.

Not another ball left the infield that inning, but Phillips scored on a groundout to second. That was all Cincinnati mustered. Hamels required just 34 pitches to record the first nine outs.