Cliff Lee fell one out shy of his sixth shutout of the season and Hunter Pence homered for the second straight contest as the Philadelphia Phillies recorded a 3-0 triumph over the host Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.

Carlos Ruiz had three hits and Shane Victorino scored twice for Philadelphia, which posted its major league-leading 19th shutout of the season and second in a row. The Phillies cruised to a 9-0 triumph over the Reds on Tuesday.

Philadelphia remained 7 1/2 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.

Lee (15-7), who has won six straight, scattered six hits and struck out seven. He has yielded two runs in five starts in August.

Ryan Madson got Yonder Alonso to foul out to third baseman Placido Polanco with the bases loaded in the ninth to secure his 25th save of the season.

With his team nursing a 1-0 lead, Pence led off the sixth by depositing an offering from Dontrelle Willis (0-4) into the seats in center field for his 18th homer. Pence, who went deep on Tuesday for his 800th career hit, has seven homers since being acquired from the Houston Astros on July 30.

Willis permitted three runs on five hits and walked five in 6 2/3 innings.

Brandon Phillips went 0-for-4 to see his 13-game hitting streak come to an end for Cincinnati, which has mustered only two runs en route to dropping the first three games in this series.