Astros  3    Phillies  10

Houston Astros (73-84) at Philadelphia Phillies (91-66), 7:05 p.m.

Sports Network | September 30, 2009

(Sports Network) - The Phillies weren't sure what they were going to get out of Pedro Martinez when they signed him back in July. Turns out, he might be starting their biggest regular-season game of the year.

Philadelphia will attempt to capture its third straight National League East crown this evening in the continuation of a four-game set with the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park.

Despite winning for just the third time in eight games, the Phillies reduced their magic number for winning the division to one thanks to last night's 7-4 victory, coupled with the Braves loss to the Marlins. Philadelphia owns a five-game edge over Atlanta with five games to play.

The defending World Series champions haven't won three straight NL East titles since doing so from 1976-78.

Pedro Feliz had the big blow in last night's contest, hitting a fourth-inning grand slam off of Astros starter Wilton Lopez that broke open a tie game. It was Feliz's second grand slam of the season and club record 11th for the Phillies this year.

"They did what they do best; hit the long ball," said Astros interim manager Dave Clark. "The big grand slam by Feliz really put a damper on things for us. It was a pitch that [Lopez] left up. It looked like it was a hanging slider, and [Feliz] got the big part of the bat on it."

Jayson Werth added a two-run homer, his career-high 35th of the season, and Ryan Madson gave the Phillies' struggling bullpen a big lift with a two-inning save. Starter J.A. Happ got the win to become the team's first rookie to reach 12 victories since Jim Owens in 1959.

"I felt a lot better than the results tonight, but we have to win and that's the important thing," said Happ, who allowed four runs (3 earned) over 5 2/3 innings.

The Phillies now turn to Martinez, who is 5-1 with a 3.32 earned run average this year. He took that loss last time out, yielding three runs over three innings versus the Braves on September 19 before exiting with a stiff neck that caused him to miss his scheduled start on Saturday.

The setback also marked the first time Philadelphia lost one of his starts this year (7-1).

The 37-year-old righty is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in four starts at Citizens Bank Park this year and 6-7 lifetime versus the Astros with a 4.03 ERA.

Martinez will be trying to pitch the Phillies to back-to-back wins over the Astros after they won their first five meetings with Philadelphia in 2009. Kaz Matsui and Lance Berkman each homered for the Astros last night, while Miguel Tejada extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a 1-for-5 effort.

Brian Moehler will try to shake off his last outing tonight for the Astros, a start versus the Reds on Friday that saw him yield seven runs over just 2 1/3 innings of work. Moehler fell to 0-2 with a 4.88 ERA over his last six starts and 8-11 with a 5.21 ERA on the season.

The right-hander, who hasn't won since August 22, got a no-decision against the Phillies on September 7, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings, and is 2-3 with a 6.19 ERA versus them lifetime.