After the Mets lost to the Nationals Tuesday night, the Phillies rallied to beat the Braves and take over first place in the NL East. Washington defeated New York, 1-0, thanks to a strong pitching performance by Odalis Perez. Mike Pelfrey was sensational, as well, allowing one run on seven hits, but the Mets failed to give him any run support. Just minutes after the Mets lost, to fall back into a tie with the Phillies for the lead in the division, Ryan Howard smacked a two-run home run off Atlanta's Mike Gonzalez to give Philadelphia an 8-7 lead in the eighth inning. Closer Brad Lidge came on in the bottom of the ninth in Atlanta and walked Chipper Jones but got Brian McCann to pop out to second for the first out of the inning. Omar Infante then grounded out to third, moving Jones to second. Next, Lidge walked Casey Kotchman to put two men on with two outs. After a nine-pitch at-bat, Jeff Francoeur walked to load the bases for Gregor Blanco, who promptly struck out to end the game. The Phillies will battle the Braves again on Wednesday while the Mets will face the Nationals in the final game of their series.