Turner Field

ATLANTA - It seems it wasn't enough for the Phillies to leave the rest of the National League in the dust with their late-season sprint. Apparently they also would enjoy rendering the pitching staff of their National League division series opponent weary and overtaxed. Along with its many talents, Charlie Manuel's team has a devious side, a penchant for creating chaos and uncertainty, which was a result of the Phillies' 7-0 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night at Turner Field.

4:10, Turner Field, Atlanta. TV: Fox. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish. TODAY'S PITCHERS Phillies RHP Vance Worley (1-1, 2.25) vs. Braves RHP Tommy Hanson (10-11, 3.41) WHO'S HOT Chase Utley: The Phillies second baseman is 13-for-42 (.310) in his last 11 games and has reached base via hit or walk safely in 28 straight games. Derek Lowe: The Braves righthander was 5-0 with a 1.17 earned run average in five September starts. He could be a big factor in October.

So what do the Phillies owe the San Diego Padres and the great moral compass of baseball when the Phils begin their final three games of the season Friday night against the Atlanta Braves? As the weekend opens, the Padres are desperately trying to worm their way into the playoffs. They could do so by catching the San Francisco Giants for the NL West title, or by catching the Braves for the league's wild-card spot. The latter won't happen, however, if the Braves win at least two games against the Phillies.

ON THE LIST of meaningful things you could be doing this weekend, watching the Phillies play the Braves ranks just ahead of organizing your penny collection in chronological order. The last time a Philadelphia sports franchise traveled to Atlanta for a sporting event this irrelevant, the Soul lost to the Georgia Force, 63-62. (Where have you gone, Arena Football?) But while the Phillies, who have already clinched homefield advantage throughout the National League playoffs, might not have a lot to play for, that doesn't mean their final regular-season series is without any intrigue.

The lead in the National League West has changed hands four times in 5 days. So with a week left to play, the Phillies still don't know whether they'll be facing the Padres, Giants or Reds in the first round of the playoffs. The wild card also remains up for grabs among San Diego, San Francisco and Cincinnati. About the only certainty seems to be that another late charge by the Rockies will come up short. Colorado is four games behind in the wild-card standings with just a week left to play.

THE ROAR reached its peak in early June. It was then that the Phillies limped home from Turner Field after a three-game sweep at the hands of the Braves. They had lost nine of 11 games, five of them coming via shutout, and were 2 1/2 games behind a red-hot Atlanta team. At the center of fan discontent was Raul Ibanez, the veteran leftfielder who had opened the 2009 season on a torrid pace before struggling down the stretch while battling two abdominal tears that would require offseason surgery.

NEW YORK - As the Phillies played the final two innings of their game Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, the Atlanta Braves confidently checked out of the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field. The Braves had every reason to feel good as they prepared for their bus ride down the New Jersey Turnpike on their way to Philadelphia, where Monday night they'll begin the franchise's biggest September series in five years against the Phillies. Having completed a three-game weekend sweep of the New York Mets with a 6-3 win that came courtesy of a Derrek Lee grand slam in the top of the seventh inning, the Braves gathered some road momentum, a rarity for a team that is 34-41 away from Turner Field this season.

NEW YORK - Not every player on a team spinning its wheels is willing to accept a trade to the bright-lights, big-city atmosphere of a contender. Detroit's Johnny Damon, just this year, turned thumbs down on going back to Boston. Derrek Lee sees it differently. He could have vetoed the move that sent him from the Cubs to the Braves before the deadline. But why? "This is the best part of baseball," he said after his game-changing, seventh-inning grand slam lifted Atlanta to a 6-3 win over the Mets yesterday at Citi Field, keeping the Braves three games behind the Phillies in the NL East with a pivotal faceoff on tap beginning tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

NEW YORK - As the Phillies played the final two innings of their game today at Citizens Bank Park, the Atlanta Braves confidently checked out of the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field. The Braves had every reason to feel good as they prepared for their bus ride down the New Jersey Turnpike on their way to Philadelphia, where Monday night they'll begin the franchise's biggest September series in five years against the Phillies. Having completed a three-game weekend sweep of the New York Mets with a 6-3 win that came courtesy of a Derek Lee grand slam in the top of the seventh inning, the Braves gathered some road momentum, a rarity for a team that is 34-41 away from Turner Field this season.