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Howard Leads Phillies To NL East Crown

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By ROB MAADDI The Associated Press

Published: October 1, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Shane Victorino doused the fans with a fire hose, Brett Myers and Ryan Howard jumped into the stands to join the celebration and Hall of Fame announcer Harry Kalas sang 'High Hopes' over the public address system.

Believe it, Philly. The Fightin' Phils are going to the playoffs - just as Jimmy Rollins predicted way back in January.

'There's only one more celebration to try and go for now and that's the whole thing,' Howard said.

Considered all-but-out of contention just 2 1/2 weeks ago, the Phillies overcame a huge deficit in the standings, caught the Mets and won their first NL East title since 1993 on the final day.

Howard hit his 47th homer, 44-year-old Jamie Moyer pitched 5 1/3 gutsy innings and the Phillies, backed by a crowd going crazy, beat Washington 6-1 Sunday to end a 14-year playoff drought.

Myers tossed his glove underhanded straight in the air and jumped off the mound after striking out Wily Mo Pena to end it. Pat Burrell ran out of the dugout and hugged Myers and everyone piled on.

The party was on, and it lasted for hours right there on the field, thousands of fans staying to enjoy a rare moment in Philly.

'This has been an incredible ride and we've got to keep going,' Burrell said.

The Phillies also needed help up I-95 to clinch, and got it from Florida. The Marlins beat the Mets 8-1 to ensure there wouldn't be a tiebreaker playoff game today.

Philadelphia rallied from seven games down on Sept. 12, matching the biggest September comeback in major-league history. Now, it's the Phillies who are advancing to the postseason for only the 10th time in their history. They'll host Game 1 of the first round Wednesday against the winner of tonight's wild-card tiebreaker between San Diego and Colorado.

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