"The Phillies finished a nine-game road trip Sunday that had a couple of bright spots at the ends and a whole bunch of ugliness in the middle.

They wrapped it all up with a 7-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, saving themselves the indignity of being swept and running their losing streak to a season-high five games.

Roy Halladay earned his eighth win and second of the trip as he survived a two-run homer by Neil Walker and a mini-confrontation with home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez in the first inning. Halladay was backed by 14 hits, only one of which was for extra bases.

But when you've lost four in a row to teams with losing records (Washington and the Pirates) and scored just seven runs in those games, you'll take the offense any way you can get it.

Halladay said he sensed some frustration in his teammates as a result of the losing streak. He did what he does best: ended the losing streak and put smiles on some faces.

He is 14-6 as a Phillie following a loss.

"I think there's definitely part of that," Halladay said, referring to the frustration of the trip. "We feel like these are games we should win. Not to take anything away from those clubs – they've been playing pretty well lately – but I think we feel like these are games we need to win. At some point, you get things going and it's a lot of weight off everybody."

Ryan Howard agreed.

"After today, the last four days don't matter anymore," he said. "We have to try to build on this."

The Phillies begin an 11-game homestand Monday night. They are 19-10 at home and lead the NL East at 35-24."