Phillies clinch NL East after gem by Halladay

WASHINGTON - They didn't clinch at home, but they could be spending plenty of time there in the coming weeks.

A dominant effort from Roy Halladay and a dynamite performance from Jayson Werth were all the Phillies needed to wrap up their fourth straight division title with an 8-0 win over the Nationals Monday night.

They also locked up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, meaning their final five games of the season will be little more than a tuneup for what they hope will be a third consecutive trip to the World Series.

The worst record the Phillies can finish with is 94-68. Either the Padres or Giants also could finish at 94-68 - both can't, since they play each other - but the Phillies own tiebreakers over both teams. They won their season series against the Padres, which gives them the edge in that scenario. And while they split their six-game series with the Giants, they are guaranteed to finish the season with a better record against their divisional opponents, which is the next tiebreaker.

The rest of the playoff picture is very much up in the air.

The Phillies will play either play the wild-card team or, if the Braves win the wild card, the other division winner with the worse record (division opponents cannot face each other in the first round of the playoffs).

As of the end of Monday night's win over the Nationals, the Padres (87-68) had a half-game lead over the Braves (87-69) in the wild card. The Reds (87-69) were one game away from clinching the NL Central crown. The Giants (88-68) were a half-game ahead of the Padres in the NL West.

Thanks to the dominant win, the Phillies can sit back and watch the rest of the playoff picture unfold.

Halladay tossed his fourth shutout of the season, holding the Nationals to two baserunners, both coming on singles.

Werth gave him the only run support Halladay would need in the second inning, when he led off with his 26th home run of the season to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Werth added a two-run double in the sixth to extend the margin to 3-0. He also legged out an RBI infield single in the ninth inning to finish 3-for-5 with four RBI.

There was very little drama, unless you count the errant Joe Bisenius slider that forced Halladay to protect his head with his bat in the ninth inning (the pitch deflected off his bat for a foul ball).

Halladay, acquired in an offseason trade with the Blue Jays, made his first start with the Phillies on Opening Day at Nationals Park, where he held Washington to one run in seven innings of an 11-1 win. He later threw seven scoreless innings against them in a 1-0 win on Aug. 20.

Halladay, 33, will make his first trip to the postseason in his 12-plus seasons in the majors.

"This was fun, but it's gonna get a whole lot funner," he said.

The Phillies are only the third team in National League history to appear in the postseason in four consecutive seasons. The Atlanta Braves made 14 straight appearances from 1991-2005 (there were no playoffs in 1994), and the New York Giants made four straight from 1921-24.

The victory also gives the Phillies their most victories since 1993, when they went 97-65 and lost to the Blue Jays in the World Series.

The last NL No. 1 seed to win the World Series was the 1995 Braves. The last NL No. 1 seed to make the World Series was the 2004 Cardinals. *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese. Follow him on Twitter at

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