PHILADELPHIA(AP) -- A day after wrapping up their third straight
National League East title, the Phillies turned their focus
toward earning home-field advantage.

They failed to gain ground on the Dodgers Thursday night.

Cliff Lee was shaky in his playoff tuneup and the Philadelphia
Phillies lost 5-3 to the Houston Astros.

Miguel Tejada homered to extend his hitting streak to 18 games
and Lance Berkman had a two-run double for the Astros.

Lee (7-4), a strong candidate to start Game 1 in the
best-of-five division series Wednesday, worked 5 2-3 innings.
The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed four runs - three
earned - and seven hits while striking out six.

"There's a few games I'd like to take back," Lee said. "For the
most part, I feel pretty good about how I've done. I'm excited
to see what (the playoffs) are all about. I have to try not to
let the heat of the moment and the emotions get the best of me,
and focus on getting hitters out."

Since going 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA in his first five starts with
the Phillies, the left-hander is 2-4 with a 6.13 ERA in his past
seven. Lee, who extended his career-high innings total to 231,
was acquired from Cleveland in late July. He has never pitched
in the postseason.

"We've been monitoring his work," Phillies manager Charlie
Manuel said. "We thought that was a good point in the game to
get him."

The Phillies enter the final weekend of the season at 92-67, one
game behind the Dodgers in the race for best record and
home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. Los Angeles
owns the tiebreaker after winning the season series 4-3.

Philadelphia hosts the Florida Marlins in its last three games.
The Dodgers are home against Colorado, which clinched a playoff
spot earlier Thursday. The Rockies could still catch Los Angeles
for the NL West title with a three-game sweep.

The 70th sellout crowd of the season at Citizens Bank Park
greeted Phillies players with a standing ovation, thanking them
for winning their third straight division title, which was
wrapped up with a 10-3 win over Houston on Wednesday night. Fans
received white rally towels that read "National League East
Champions, 2009," and they frequently punctuated a festive
atmosphere by waving them.

By drawing 44,905 fans, the Phillies set a franchise record for
attendance at 3,465,206. The previous mark was 3,422,583, during
last season's run to the World Series championship.

"We want to win every game," Lee said. "We're already in the
playoffs, but we want to guarantee ourselves home-field
advantage. That's a big difference. You also want to feel good
about yourselves going in, but it's not a bad feeling knowing
we're already in the playoffs."

Though Manuel said the Phillies would love home-field advantage,
he also wants his team as healthy as possible. He rested
regulars Chase Utley and Shane Victorino on Thursday night and
will likely spell Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and
Jayson Werth at some point this weekend.

The Phillies received some bad news after the game when the team
announced that reliever J.C. Romero would visit New York Mets
medical director Dr. David Altchek for persistent pain in his
strained left forearm. Romero declined to speak with reporters
after the game. Manuel didn't sound optimistic.

"It's going to be hard for Romero to go out there and compete,"
Manuel said. "We don't think he's well yet. I'm waiting to see.
I have to go with the guys who are healthy and ready to pitch."

Tejada homered to left in the sixth inning and later singled in
a run, leaving him four hits from his fourth 200-hit season. His
homer put the Astros further in front after the Phillies cut the
deficit to 2-1 in the fifth. Tejada has batted .429 during the
streak.

Houston starter Felipe Paulino (3-11) snapped his seven-game
losing streak with five strong innings, earning his first win
since June 27. Though he needed 110 pitches, he allowed only one
run and six hits.

"He's a work-in-progress," interim manager Dave Clark said. "He
has a power arm and will only get better."

Jose Valverde yielded two ninth-inning runs but with two on he
retired Miguel Cairo on a liner to center field for the final
out.

NOTES: Phillies reliever Chan Ho Park returned to Philadelphia
after feeling discomfort in his right hamstring during a rehab
outing in the Florida Instructional League. He will see team
doctor Michael Ciccotti on Friday. ... Astros left fielder
Carlos Lee missed the game with a sore right hand. ... Phillies
reliever Brett Myers pitched the seventh, his first appearance
since Sept. 12. He proclaimed ready for the postseason.