NATIONAL LEAGUE Phillies sweep pair from Pirates

Philadelphia is looking for a strong finish to the season and second place.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Brett Myers wants to make sure Philadelphia has a strong finish even if the rest of the season has been a disappointment.
Chase Utley had three hits and two RBIs, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a six-run seventh inning to complete a doubleheader sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-3 victory Wednesday night.
In the opener, Todd Pratt hit a three-run homer and the Phillies (83-75) beat the Pirates 8-4 to clinch consecutive winning seasons for the first time in 21 years.
"We're still playing for second place," said Myers, who earned the win.
"Everything else might be out of reach, but there's a certain sense of being in second place, finish up strong and see what happens next year."
Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu reached base in nine of his 10 plate appearances -- eight straight before flying out in the fifth. He had four hits, four walks and reached on an error.
Uprising
The Phillies trailed 3-1 in the seventh inning of the nightcap before scoring five unearned runs against reliever Salomon Torres (7-7).
After the Phillies tied the game 3-all on shortstop Jack Wilson's one-out throwing error, Torres walked Jason Michaels to load the bases with two outs.
Then Utley poked a two-run, opposite-field double to left for a 5-3 lead.
Mike Lieberthal then chased Torres with a two-RBI double.
"We botched a double play ball and things went downhill from there," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said.
That made a winner of Myers (10-11), who was pinch-hit for in the seventh after giving up six hits and three runs in his longest outing since Sept. 5.
Felix Rodriguez and Billy Wagner each worked a scoreless inning.
Phillies manager Larry Bowa accepted Myers' request to pitch the season finale on Sunday.
"I felt a lot better than I have in a while and everything was working for me," Myers said.
"I want to get back out there one more time and hopefully finish the season at .500."
Wasted solid effort
The Pirates wasted a solid effort by starter Ryan Vogelsong, who allowed only a run and four hits in five innings after failing to record an out in his previous start.
Pittsburgh staked him to a 3-0 lead in the third on Jason Bay's 26th homer, bolstering his rookie of the year bid.
Wilson had two hits in the doubleheader, leaving him one shy of 200 this year.
In the first game, Philadelphia backed Vicente Padilla (7-7) with a five-run second on Pratt's second homer of the year and RBI singles by Pat Burrell and Placido Polanco.
The Phillies made it 8-4 in the seventh on a two-run triple by Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley's sacrifice fly.
Wigginton slugs 17th
Padilla allowed four runs and six hits in five innings. He gave up Ty Wigginton's 17th homer of the year, a three-run shot to left in the second, and a Jack Wilson sacrifice fly.
Rheal Cormier, Ryan Madson and Tim Worrell pitched four scoreless innings of relief.
Ian Snell (0-1) gave up 11 hits, five walks and eight earned runs in five innings in his first major league start. He was the 11th different pitcher to start this year for Pittsburgh.
"He just elevated some pitches and they hit the heck out of them," McClendon said.