"Get through, get through," Jenkins shouted as he ran up the first-base line after hitting a ball to the left of San Francisco Giants second baseman Eugenio Velez.

The ball did get through, but that was only half of the deciding play that earned the Phillies a 6-5 walk-off win over the Giants.

Ryan Howard, who was on second when Jenkins hit the ball with two outs, broke on the crack of the bat, lumbered around third, and did some sort of slide/dive/belly flop in reaching home plate with the winning run.

Jenkins did not get a hit on the play; the ball scooted under Velez's glove and was ruled an error.

But the Phils' rightfielder still enjoyed the outcome.

"Once the ball got through, I looked for Howie," Jenkins said. "He's not the fleetest of foot, but he ran his butt off and we won the game."

Said closer Brad Lidge: "It was like Little League. Keep running till someone tags you out."

Howard, hitting a dismal .167, got the winning rally started with a two-out walk against reliever Keiichi Yabu and moved to second on a walk to Pat Burrell.

When Jenkins pulled the ball to the right side, Howard was thinking one thing: Score.

"I was going as fast as I could," he said. "I got a good jump, and I think that was because of the shoes."

Huh?

"I wore lighter-colored shoes today, and that might have made me look faster," he said.

Whatever it takes, dude.

Howard's wheels helped the National League East-leading Phils win their third straight series and sixth in the last eight. The victory was also the 500th of Charlie Manuel's managerial career.

Giants starter Tim Lincecum was as good as advertised. Although he allowed four runs in six innings, none were earned. Two of the Phillies' runs were doubled in by Burrell in the third.

Lidge got the win in relief, but Burrell credited a power display by Carlos Ruiz for the victory. Phils starter Cole Hamels twice squandered leads, the second time coming in the sixth when he gave up a two-run homer to Rich Aurilia on a first-pitch fastball. Hamels threw a fastball down the middle because he thought Aurilia would take the first pitch.

"I made mistakes," Hamels said. "I need to be smarter early in counts."

The Giants took a 5-4 lead on Jose Castillo's triple off Chad Durbin in the eighth. Ruiz tied it with his first homer of the season in the bottom of the inning. The Phils' catcher hit a full-count breaking ball from reliever Vinnie Chulk into the left-field seats.

"Fortunately, Ruiz hit that big home run," Burrell said. "Without that, we probably lose this game. Give him credit."

All three games in the series were decided by one run, with the Phils winning two of them. Two of the games went extra innings.

Despite the two wins, the Phils averaged just six hits per game in the series and looked like a team that missed Jimmy Rollins' impact in the lineup. Five of the Phils' runs today were unearned, and the eight runs they scored in the first two games came via home runs.

The Phils need to mix in some more hits between those long balls. Rollins, out of the starting lineup since April 9 with a sprained left ankle, could be back next weekend.

"We need Jimmy back," Manuel said. "He's our go guy, our energy guy."