Phillies 12, Astros 6: Ryan Howard and John Mayberry Jr. drove in three runs apiece and Cole Hamels matched a career high with his 15th victory as visiting Philadelphia posted its 12th win in 15 outings.

Domonic Brown crushed a two-run homer and Jimmy Rollins went deep to lead off the game as the Phillies belted out 16 hits to avenge their series-opening loss. Philadelphia moved within three games of St. Louis in the race for the second wild card in the National League. The Cardinals dropped an 8-5 decision to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.

Howard, whose ground-rule RBI double highlighted a four-run first inning, added a two-run single to cap the Phillies' scoring in the eighth. Mayberry, who had three hits, delivered an RBI single in the first and a two-run infield hit in the fifth.

Staked to an offensive explosion, Hamels (15-6) won his fourth straight decision en route to matching his career-high win total, which was set during the 2007 season. The left-hander yielded four runs and struck out eight in seven innings.

Making his third start since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, Edgar Gonzalez (2-1) was blitzed for five runs on six hits in four innings to take the loss.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Matt Downs launched a towering two-run homer off the edifice in left field. Justin Maxwell added a solo shot off the left-field foul pole in the fifth inning for the Astros. ... Rollins' blast gave him four 20-homer seasons in his career. ... Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. detailed that Chase Utley will likely not play at third base during the race for the postseason. Utley, who is a five-time All-Star second baseman, has toyed with the idea of moving to third to aid his troubled knees.