Rollins Rockin` in Spring Training

"Not unless I hit one on the first day of the season," Rollins said.

Almost two weeks into the Grapefruit League, Rollins leads the Phillies with in homers.

Rollins hit his third of the spring on Monday, then capped a four-hit day with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Phillies to a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"I have enough to power to hit it out when a mistake is made," Rollins said.

Rollins, who has a starting job locked up, was 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs to hike his average to .406 (13 for 32). His homer in the fifth off lefthander Scott Eyre broke a 2-2 lead, giving the Phillies the lead until the ninth.

"Jimmy`s killing the ball," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "He`s really swinging the ball well."

Toronto scored two runs in the ninth against Ricky Bottalico to tie the game, but Rollins won the game for the Phillies in the bottom of the inning with a one-out single off Brian Bowles to score pinch-runner David Newhan from second base.

Toronto infielder Jeff Frye, sidelined all spring with a sore right knee, re-injured it on his first at-bat of the year.

Frye will undergo exploratory surgery on Tuesday so doctors can determine whether he sustained a torn cartilage or a torn ACL. Frye had a complete ACL tear on the same knee in 1993.

Frye had his knee give out when he fouled a pitch in the fifth inning. He was carried off the field by teammates and immediately left for the hospital.

"Jeff`s in a lot of pain," Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez said. "Hopefully, it`s not serious."

Down 4-2, the Blue Jays pulled even in the ninth, tying the game on a two-out, two-strike RBI double by Ryan Thompson. Bottalico, competing with Jose Mesa for the closer job, blew his second save in three chances.

Thompson tied the game 2-2 in the fifth with a wind-blown, two-run homer to left against Phillies starter Robert Person.

Person worked five innings, allowing three hits and two runs. Righthander Esteban Loazia started for Toronto and went four innings in his second start, allowing two runs over four innings.

The game was scoreless until the fourth, when the Phillies scored a pair of runs on two-out infield singles by Travis Lee and Tomas Perez.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)