ATLANTA -- The nine errors at first base are hard to ignore. So is the .219 batting average that is the worst among Phillies starters.

But for all Ryan Howard has lacked in defensive prowess and average during this trying first half of the season, he has also hit 21 homers and driven in 71 runs, stats which rank among the best in the National League.

And as starting pitcher Adam Eaton said: "Nobody's got a problem with that at the end of the day."

Howard hit a three-run homer and Eaton received some much needed run support, as the Phillies beat the Braves, 7-3, on Wednesday night to guarantee their first series win since the first week of June.

The Phillies, who entered this series having lost nine of their past 11 games, seem to have righted themselves once again. All it took was a return trip to Atlanta.

Philadelphia has now won five straight and seven of its last eight against Atlanta. With the win, the Phillies also maintained their 1 1/2-game lead over the Marlins in the NL East.

"We're trying to put June behind us now, we're in July," Howard said. "And right now, with the way the offense has been going ... we're getting a couple W's and trying to get the ball going again."

Howard's three-run homer in the third inning off Braves pitcher Jorge Campillo gave the Phillies an early 4-0 lead. But his two defensive gaffes in the bottom of the ninth also prolonged what should have been a relatively stress-free evening.

With one out in the ninth, Gregor Blanco lined a ball down the right-field line that skipped over Howard's glove at first. After Brad Lidge struck out Yunel Escobar for the second out, Howard let a routine ground ball bounce off the tip of his glove, a play that would have ended the game had he fielded it cleanly.

"Just botched a couple balls," Howard explained. "It happens, so you can look at it how you want to look at it. The first ball was hit pretty hard. I welcome anybody to go out there and stand in front of that one. And the second one, I just completely [missed] it. It happens sometimes."

So with the bases full, Lidge had to deal with the hot-hitting Mark Teixeira. The Braves first baseman gave the closer a scare, roping an inside fastball that drifted foul. After fighting off a couple 95-mph fastballs, Teixeira struck out swinging, extending the Braves' woes with runners in scoring position during the first two games of this three-game set. They are now 2-for-24 in that situation.

"The game got real exciting," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, whose pitchers wriggled out of three bases-loaded jams on Wednesday.

Eaton, who watched from the dugout as his five-plus innings of one-run ball nearly vanished, escaped with his third win of the season, and his first since June 3, when he allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings against the Reds.

The Phillies had scored just three runs over his past three starts, a span of 18 2/3 innings. They put up four runs in the first three innings Wednesday, hardly noticing the Braves were healthy and playing with their usual lineup for the first time in more than a month.

"Probably the best 'worst game' of the season," Eaton said. "A few strikes here or there could have made a difference."

Eaton was referring to the sixth inning, when he temporarily lost his aggressiveness, and thus lost his ability to get hitters out. He couldn't record an out in the sixth, and left with the bases full and the slumping Jeff Francoeur at the plate.

Chad Durbin entered the game and induced a bases-loaded groundout, then struck out Mark Kotsay to end the threat.

"That was probably the turning point of the game right there," Eaton said. "It cemented that we did have the lead and it was going to be tough to come back."

Durbin, whom some thought would be moved into the rotation after starter Brett Myers was optioned to Triple-A, didn't allow a hit in two innings of relief.

The Phillies had not won back-to-back games since June 12-13, when they beat the Marlins and Cardinals on consecutive nights. They also hadn't won a series since sweeping the Braves at Turner Field on June 6-8.