Milwaukee, WI (AP) - Ryan Howard brewed a bit of history in Milwaukee, as his 2 home runs help the Phillies to an easy 10-5 win on the road.  Howard's second homer of the game, in the seventh inning off reliever Mitch Stetter, was the 300th of his career.  The Phils slugger is now the 134th player in Major League Baseball history to hit that many home runs in his career.

"It's definitely an awesome feeling," said Howard in his post game press conference.  "I was able to time it well and get enough on it to get it over that right field wall.  I'm just glad we were able to win, more importantly.  I'll definitely remember this for the rest of my life, but I'm happier that we won and took a step closer to clinching the division."

Howard was far from alone to do some yard work in Milwaukee.  The Phils won on the strength of five home runs in this contest.  In fact, three Phillies batters hit homers in the sevent inning, including Howard's historic shot.

"We put some good swings on the ball," said Philadelphia Manager Charlie Manuel.  "When you have good at bats and take good swings, good things are going to happen.  And we were able to do a lot of that today."

The Fightin's offense has been explosive the last couple of games.  A day after clinching a spot in the playoffs by pounding out 17 runs on 20 hits, the Phillies collected another 13 hits and 10 more runs.

Placido Polanco actually got the power surge started in the first inning, smashing a solo home run to left field to give Philly the early 1-0 lead.  Howard homered in the third and seventh innings.  Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez also tacked on solo homers in the seventh inning.

Roy Halladay picks up one of five strikeouts on the day, en route to his 13th win of the year.

Another positive story at the plate for the Fightin's was catcher Carlos Ruiz.  "Chooch" had 3 hits on the day - each base hit knocking in a run.  Ruiz has really turned things around in the second half of the season.  After spending the first half of the year hitting below .200, he's raised his average all the way up to .237.

"We're all really glad to see Chooch doing so much better," said Rollins.  "He's a big part of this team, not just behind the plate, but as a hitter at the plate as well.  When he's going good, we're generally going really good, too."

Speaking of turning things around, starter Roy Halladay has also picked things up.  He started off the season 1-5, and many were worried about what was going on with Halladay.  Since then, however, he's gone 12-4, and he's sporting the second lowest ERA in the National League at 2.36.

"The biggest thing for Roy is that he's been much more consistent," said Manuel.  "In the start of the season, he'd keeping having one or two bad innings that would really hurt him.  Plus, our offense didn't always help him out.  Now, he's shutting teams down much more consistently."

Carlos Ruiz knocks in one of his 3 RBI on the day with a double that just stayed fair.

Of course, Halladay is far from alone in having stellar seasons on the mound.  As expected, the Phillies starting pitching has been nothing short of excellent, leading the team to an ERA under 3.00, well ahead of the second place team.  And Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt are both challening for the Cy Young award, with 31 wins between the two.

The only bit of disappointment in this one was the performance in the 9th inning.  Vance Worley came in with the Phillies leading 10-1.  However, he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits while only getting 2 outs.  So, Manuel had to bring in rookie Scott Mathieson to finish the job.

"That's part of the reason to bring guys in for that kind of situation.  If he struggles, we're still ok.  If he does well, great.  Either way, he gets some experience and we get another look at him," said Manuel.

The Phillies continue their road trip in Houston, taking on the Astros for the next three days before getting a day off and returning home to face the Cardinals, which could end up being a preview for the N.L.C.S.