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Mets looking over shoulders at Phillies
2007-08-31
Chase Utley hit an RBI single off Billy Wagner in the ninth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies completed a huge sweep of the first-place New York Mets by rallying for an 11-10 victory Thursday in one of the wildest games of the season. By winning four straight against the Mets, Philadelphia moved within two games of the NL East leaders and suddenly set up an exciting September pennant race. Mets nemesis Pat Burrell homered twice. Ryan Howard and Aaron Rowand also connected for the Phillies, who wasted leads of 5-0 and 8-5 before falling behind 10-8 in the eighth. That's when the Mets called on the struggling Wagner, who hadn't pitched since last Friday after experiencing a tired arm. Looking for a six-out save, Wagner (2-2) gave up Burrell's solo shot in the eighth and immediately ran into trouble in the ninth. Jayson Werth hit a leadoff single, then stole second and third on consecutive pitches with one out. Pinch-hitter Tadahito Iguchi's single to left tied it at 10. Jimmy Rollins was intentionally walked after Iguchi stole second, bringing up Utley, who entered the game leading the NL in batting average. The All-Star second baseman, playing his third game after missing a month with a broken hand, worked a full count before lining a single to right field to score Iguchi and send the crowd into a frenzy. Fans chanted "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" as they left the ballpark following a game that lasted exactly 4 hours, New York's longest nine-inning game this season. One man held a broom he sneaked in. It was Philadelphia's first four-game sweep over any team since doing it against the Mets in September 2003 at old Veterans Stadium. The Phillies have sliced five games off New York's lead with five straight wins while the Mets have lost five in a row. Philadelphia will be two games behind the loser of the Arizona-San Diego game in the wild-card standings. Wagner has blown his last two save opportunities and is 29-of-33 this year with two blown saves against Philadelphia. The All-Star closer left the Phillies to sign with New York before last season. Tom Gordon (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win after the Mets scored five times off the trio of J.C. Romero, Antonio Alfonseca and Jose Mesa in the eighth to take a 10-8 lead. Pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson's RBI double off Alfonseca cut it to 8-6. After Jose Reyes was intentionally walked, Endy Chavez hit a two-run single to tie it at 8. With David Wright batting, Reyes stole third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Carlos Ruiz. Alfonseca exited to a chorus of boos after walking Wright. Mesa came in, walked Carlos Beltran and gave up an RBI groundout to Carlos Delgado that made it 10-8. After New York tied it at 5 in the fifth, the Phillies scored three off Aaron Sele with two outs in the bottom half. Ruiz and pinch-hitter Shane Victorino drove in consecutive runs with bloop singles. Rollins then hit a hard single, putting the Phillies ahead 8-5. Mets starter Orlando Hernandez gave up five runs and six hits in three innings, his shortest outing this season. It was just the third time in 23 starts El Duque didn't last at least five innings. Hernandez has won five straight decisions and the Mets were 9-0 in his previous nine starts. Trailing 5-0, the Mets got three in the fourth on run-scoring singles by Shawn Green and pinch-hitter Lastings Milledge sandwiched around Ruben Gotay's RBI groundout. Milledge's hit gave starter Kyle Lohse a surprising early exit. Geoff Geary came in and got out of a jam. But Chavez doubled to start the fifth and Wright singled. Beltran drove in Chavez on an infield single to first baseman Howard, who hesitated before he shoveled the ball too late. Wright advanced to third on Delgado's flyout and scored just ahead of right fielder Werth's throw on Green's sacrifice fly that tied it at 5. Lohse allowed three runs and five hits in 3 2-3 innings. Rollins led off the first with a double. Two outs later, Howard launched a 2-1 pitch into the stands just left of the brick batter's eye in center for his 36th homer. After Utley's single in the third, Burrell lined a shot into the left-field seats. A fan outleaped the Phillie Phanatic, who was mingling in that section, to catch the ball. Rowand hit his 22nd homer one batter later to make it 5-0. Burrell has 41 career homers against the Mets, fifth-most by an opposing player. He is batting .360 (59-for-164) since July 2, raising his average from .201 to .270. He has 16 of his 24 homers in that span, and has earned the support of fans who booed him in pregame introductions on opening day. Notes:@ Wright got his 30th stolen base. He needs six homers to have his first 30-30 season. Only Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry have done it for the Mets.
Braves rally to stun Phillies 9-8 (2007-09-05)Phillies narrow gap on Mets after series sweep (2007-08-31)Mets looking over shoulders at Phillies (2007-08-31)Howard's HR lifts Phils over Mets in 10 (2007-08-29)Mets stun save king Hoffman to beat Padres (2007-08-22)
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