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PHILADELPHIA - Sometimes teams don't have to trade for a superstar.

Sometimes any ol' Joe will do.

Joe Blanton scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-2 before 45,271 fans at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday afternoon. The Phillies (56-40) lead the National League East by 6 games.

Blanton is 7-4 overall but 7-2 since May 1. He is 11-4 as a Phillie since the team traded for him in July 2008.

"He's a better pitcher than I thought he was," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

There has been much debate the past two weeks about whether the Phillies should trade highly touted prospects for Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay. The debate will only grow louder this week. The non-waiver trade deadline is Friday. Halladay is one of baseball's best and the 2003 American League Cy Young winner.

But if the Phillies decide the price for Halladay is too steep, they might make a move for a less-talented pitcher - someone like Blanton.

There wasn't jubilation in the streets when the Phillies traded prospects Adrian Cardenas, Matt Spencer and Josh Outman to the Oakland Athletics for Blanton, who was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA at the time.

Not only were those bad statistics, but also Blanton wasn't a flashy name, ala Pedro Martinez. In fact, there's nothing flashy at all about the 6-foot-2, 244-pound, 28-year-old.

But he's been an integral part of Philadelphia's success.

The Phillies are 20-12 in Blanton's 32 Philadelphia starts.

He was 2-0 in the postseason last year, and no Phillies fan will forget the home run he hit against the Rays in Game 4 of the World Series.

Blanton is one of the best stretches of his career. He is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in July. Blanton was 0-2 with an 8.41 ERA in April. He says he's more focused now, especially with runners on base.

"Solo home runs can't kill you," he said. "Those crooked-number home runs, those two- and three-runners, add up."

On Sunday, Blanton shut down the Cardinals on a hot, humid day in which the ball was flying out of Citizens Bank. The Phillies hit four two-run home runs, including Ryan Howard's 433-foot shot that bounced high off the batter's eye in center field.

Blanton struck out six and walked one. He threw his fastball in the lows 90s, according to the scoreboard, and mixed in a slider and changeup. Blanton worked quickly. The game lasted 2 hours, 37 minutes.

"I threw a little bit of everything," Blanton said. "The curveball wasn't great, but it was effective at times."

He was at his best in the eighth inning when he faced the Cardinals' best hitters.

The crowd roared as he struck out Albert Pujols swinging on a 92 mph fastball.

The fans then clapped in unison and roared again as Blanton struck out Matt Holliday swinging on an 84 mph changeup.

"I was trying to come right at them," Blanton said. "I threw some balls down with good movement, and they swung over the top of them."

The three players the Phillies traded for Blanton are still in the A's organization. Outman, 24, is the only one in the majors. A starting pitcher, he is 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA. Cardenas, a 21-year-old second baseman, was just promoted to Triple-A. Spencer, a 23-year-old outfielder, is batting .296 in Double-A.

If Philadelphia does a make a move this week, they should hope it works as well as the Blanton deal. One reason Blanton has done well is the team's attitude toward newcomers.

Blanton said the Phillies have a way of making a player feel at home, whether he's a flashy ace like Halladay or a regular Joe like himself.

"It's an easy-going team," Blanton said. "There's a lot of different personalities. You can find your groove."

E-mail Michael McGarry:

MMcGarry@pressofac.com

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Schumaker 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .304

Lugo ss 4 1 2 0 0 1 .571

Pujols 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .325

Holliday lf 2 0 1 1 1 1 .636

Ludwick rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .275

Ankiel cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .236

DeRosa 3b 4 1 2 1 0 2 .244

LaRue c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .234

c-Thurston ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .229

Wellemeyer p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .108

D.Reyes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

a-Rasmus ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .259

Hawksworth p 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Totals 33 2 8 2 1 7

Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Rollins ss 5 1 1 2 0 0 .237

Victorino cf 4 2 2 0 1 0 .320

Utley 2b 4 2 3 2 0 1 .305

Howard 1b 3 2 3 3 0 0 .266

Ibanez lf 4 1 1 2 0 1 .305

Mayberry lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .189

Stairs rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .246

Werth rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .271

Feliz 3b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .298

Bako c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .211

Blanton p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .033

b-Dobbs ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .271

Lidge p 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Totals 35 9 13 9 1 6

St. Louis 100 010 000-2 8 1

Philadelphia 102 022 20x-9 13 1

a-struck out for D.Reyes in the 7th. b-popped out for Blanton in the 8th. c-fouled out for LaRue in the 9th.

E-Lugo (1), Feliz (9). LOB-St. Louis 6, Philadelphia 5. 2B-Lugo (2), Holliday (4), Ankiel (19), Bako (2). HR-DeRosa (4), off Blanton; Utley (22), off Wellemeyer; Howard (25), off Wellemeyer; Rollins (10), off Wellemeyer; Ibanez (26), off Hawksworth. RBIs-Holliday (3), DeRosa (6), Rollins 2 (45), Utley 2 (69), Howard 3 (75), Ibanez 2 (73). S-Blanton. SF-Holliday, Howard.

Runners left in scoring position-St. Louis 4 (Ludwick 2, Schumaker, Thurston); Philadelphia 3 (Ibanez, Rollins 2).

Runners moved up-Wellemeyer. GIDP-Pujols, Ludwick, Ibanez.

DP-St. Louis 1 (Pujols, Lugo); Philadelphia 2 (Feliz, Utley, Howard), (Feliz, Utley, Howard).

St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Wellemeyer L, 7-9 52/3 11 7 5 1 3 98 5.79

D.Reyes 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 3 3.86

Hawksworth 2 2 2 2 0 2 26 3.86

Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Blanton W, 7-4 8 7 2 2 1 6 108 4.11

Lidge 1 1 0 0 0 1 21 7.00

Inherited runners-scored-D.Reyes 1-0. WP-Blanton.

Umpires-Home, Brian O'Nora; First, Gary Cederstrom; Second, Adrian Johnson; Third, Jim Wolf.

T-2:37. A-45,271 (43,647).

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