Phillies Beat Pirates And Mother Nature

The Philadelphia Phillies learned the easy way to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates -- keep the game close, then wait for the errors and the mental mistakes to come.

Jason Kendall`s third error in two nights set up Philadelphia`s go-ahead sixth inning, and the Phillies added a game to their NL East lead with a 6-3 victory Thursday night.

Philadelphia had lost eight of 11 going into Wednesday, then were helped by six Pittsburgh errors in winning the final two games of the series. The Phillies lead the division by 4 1/2 games over Atlanta, a 3-2 loser earlier in the day to Florida.

"Do I think it (the slide) is over? I don`t know. I wish I did know," said manager Larry Bowa, whose Phillies play their next 14 against the Braves and Marlins. "We`re going to play two good teams. If we don`t have pitching and defense, we`re going to have some problems."

The Pirates had neither -- and, predictably, they had problems.

With storm clouds approaching and winds whipping dirt from the former Three Rivers Stadium site into PNC Park -- some fans put bags on their heads to protect them from the dust -- the Phillies regained the lead with a two-run sixth just ahead of a 57-minute rain delay.

Jimmy Anderson (4-7) walked Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen, who then worked a double steal. Kendall, back at catcher after two nights in the outfield, threw wildly on the play as Abreu came home.

"There`s no sign. He takes off, and I take off with him," Rolen said.

Rolen, running on contact, then scored to make it 4-3, beating first baseman Craig Wilson`s throw home on Travis Lee`s one-out grounder.

The night before, Kendall had two errors and misplayed a fly ball in left as Philadelphia won 9-5.

Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said Kendall`s error "wasn`t what beat us," then put the blame on Anderson, who gave up four runs, six hits and walked three in 5 2-3 innings.

"I didn`t think he gave us a chance at all to win that game," McClendon said. "It certainly wasn`t the type of game I expected from him. We`ve had back-to-back pitching performances (by Bronson Arroyo and Anderson) that, in my opinion, were awfully lousy. I`m not going to tolerate it. The one thing I ask is that you be in the game mentally."

The Phillies added insurance runs in the ninth against Omar Olivares on triples by Tomas Perez and Jimmy Rollins and Wilson`s error on a Marlon Anderson grounder to first.

Robert Person (5-5), who will miss his next start because of a suspension, won despite being lifted after the rain delay, giving up two earned runs in five innings. Wayne Gomes followed with two scoreless innings and Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

Person`s appeal to have his six-game suspension for hitting Arizona`s Reggie Sanders with a pitch May 13 was heard before the game by Paul Beeston and Frank Robinson of the commissioner`s office.

"It got a little heated," Person said. "We were in a battle, and I wanted to get my point across."

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the second but appeared to squander a third run.

Wilson singled and catcher Johnny Estrada threw wildly trying to get him at second on Jimmy Anderson`s bunt in front of the plate. Abraham Nunez walked to load the bases with one out.

Jack Wilson doubled to right-center, scoring Craig Wilson and Anderson, but Nunez was momentarily held at third by third-base coach Trent Jewett -- surprising Jack Wilson, who was about 15 feet from third. Nunez finally broke late for the plate and was tagged out in a rundown.

"He (Jewett) is my eyes there," Nunez said. "He`s the one who has to make the decision to send me. All I could see was him waving me, then stopping. The last thing I saw was him stopping me."

The Phillies tied it in the fourth on Lee`s sacrifice fly and Estrada`s single.

Brian Giles doubled to start the fourth and scored a batter later as Rolen, the third baseman, jumped on the tarpaulin along the third-base line to grab John Vander Wal`s foul popup.

Game notes:
The Phillies won the season series 5-1. They had four stolen bases, giving them a league high 73. ... Person didn`t allow a homer after giving up 16 in his first 14 starts. ... Lee`s two RBI gave him nine in the six games against Pittsburgh. ... The in-game rain delay was the Pirates` first at PNC Park. Three games were rained out before they could start. ... It rained only a few minutes during the delay. Play was held up for an additional half hour for a second wave of thunderstorms that did not arrive.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News