MILWAUKEE(AP) -- J.A. Happ might be the Philadelphia Phillies'
answer to their late-inning bullpen woes when it comes time for
the postseason.

Jimmy Rollins capped a six-run fifth inning with a three-run
homer and Ryan Howard drove in two runs to help the Happ earn
his 11th win, a 9-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on
Thursday night.

"There's a chance he could wind up in the back end of the
bullpen if we don't get something straightened out," Phillies
manager Charlie Manuel said of the rookie left-hander. "Like if
(J.C.) Romero don't come back or something. I'm not saying we're
going to do that, but we're going to talk about it, if we don't
have no lefty."

Phillies closer Brad Lidge has blown a major league-leading 11
saves this season and Ryan Madson has been ineffective finishing
games for the NL East leaders.

Happ (11-4) tied Randy Wells of the Chicago Cubs for the most
victories by a rookie as he turned in a much better performance
against Milwaukee than his previous start.

"He hides the ball real well," Brewers manager Ken Macha said.
"We just couldn't get the key hit."

On Sept. 18 at Atlanta, Happ went just three innings in the
shortest start of his career, leaving for precautionary reasons.
He had strained his right oblique during batting practice Sept.
5 and missed two starts due to the injury.

Happ retired the first seven batters, the last five on
strikeouts, before Jason Kendall hit a sinking liner in the
third that left fielder Ben Francisco made a diving attempt to
catch, but missed. The ball rolled to the wall as Kendall legged
out his second triple of the season. One out later, Happ
deflected Lopez's smash up the middle toward second where Chase
Utley's low throw handcuffed Howard at first and squirted away
as the run scored.

"Howard's played pretty good first base, but tonight it looked
like a juggling act or something, a circus or something," Manuel
said. "The ball was running up his arm, hitting him in the
chest. That means Howard will play better tomorrow."

Pedro Feliz, who batted seventh, had three hits, scored twice
and drove in a run for Philadelphia, who amassed 14 hits and
reduced their magic number to clinch the NL East to four.

Howard came into the game an RBI behind Prince Fielder, who
entered with 131, for the major league lead, but he drove in
Utley with two outs in the first and added another in the
eighth.

Fielder hit a run-scoring grounder in the bottom of the ninth to
tie the sluggers at 132.

Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan (7-11) immediately gave the run
back on consecutive doubles by Francisco and Feliz to start the
fourth.

Leading 2-1, the Phillies broke the game open with six runs in
the fifth to chase Suppan.

Jayson Werth reached on shortstop Alcides Escobar's throwing
error and then four consecutive singles produced three runs,
including one by Happ for his first career RBI, who drove in his
first run, just before Rollins hit his 20th of the season.

Suppan was booed as he walked off the field.

"When he's right and he's putting the ball where he wants to, he
can be tough," Manuel said of Suppan. "We were fortunate that
the bottom of the lineup hurt him. That was the thing - kind of
did him in."

Paul Bako, who batted eighth, had two hits, scored a run and
drove one in.

"We just couldn't stop the bleeding," Macha said of the
Phillies' fifth. "Even the pitcher got a hit."

Suppan allowed eight runs - seven earned - and a season-high 12
hits over 4 1-3 innings.

"I just couldn't make a pitch in the fifth when I need to, and
they put up a big number," Suppan said.

Happ left with an 8-2 lead and two outs in the sixth after the
Brewers scored a run on consecutive doubles by Fielder and Casey
McGehee. He allowed two runs on six hits in five 2-3 innings
with two walks and seven strikeouts.

NOTES: Happ leads all rookies in ERA (2.79), complete games
(three), shutouts (two), strikeouts (112) and innings pitched
(158 1-3). ... Phillies C Carlos Ruiz was not with the team
after being sent home on Wednesday to undergo an MRI on his
sprained left wrist. He had a cortisone shot on Thursday in
Philadelphia and then left to join his teammates at Miller Park.
He is not expected to play for a few days. ... Milwaukee (75-78)
is out of the playoff race, but hopes to keep Ken Macha's streak
of winning records alive. The Brewers' first-year manager, who
led the Oakland Athletics for four years and two teams in the
minors for four seasons, has never finished below .500.