Phillies Ride 9-Run Second

VETERANS STADIUM — Phillies starter Omar Daal improved to 4-0 thanks more to his hitting than his pitching Sunday. On the mound, Daal gave up six runs in five-plus innings. At the plate, he had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run in a nine-run second inning as Philadelphia beat the Giants 10-8 Sunday.

"He takes a lot of pride in his hitting, he works on it," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said.

"This is the National League and you have to bat," said Daal, who is now 4-for-14 this season and had 14 hits last season for a .267 average. "If the pitcher can be a good hitter, you extend the game longer, you don`t need a pinch hitter."

Philadelphia`s highest-scoring inning since an 11-run eighth against Milwaukee in September 1999 was highlighted by Bobby Abreu`s three-run double and Kevin Jordan`s two-run double.

Jimmy Rollins drove in runs with a single and triple, the latter scoring Daal to make it 10-2.

Bowa, who has been waiting for his offense to start clicking, was pleased.

"Anytime you get 10, that`s a breakout," Bowa said. "I wish we had a couple of more like that."

Giants starter Kirk Rueter (3-3) went one-plus inning, allowing eight runs -- seven earned -- on six hits.

"It was a bad inning, everything they hit was hard," Rueter said. "Everything we threw up there they hit hard and found holes."

The Phillies, who tied with the Chicago Cubs for the worst record in baseball last season and now lead the NL East at 18-12, also scored a run in the first on Doug Glanville`s homer.

Daal already has matched his win total from last season, when he went 4-19. Jose Mesa pitched the ninth inning for his eighth save in nine tries.

San Francisco`s Rich Aurilia went 3-for-5 with a single, triple and homer, scoring three runs and driving in two.

San Francisco scored twice in the second on Aurilia`s RBI triple and Armando Rios` sacrifice fly.

The Giants made it 10-5 in the fifth on a two-run double by Ramon Martinez and an RBI single by Jeff Kent. After Aurilia`s solo homer in the sixth, San Francisco added two more runs in the seventh on a RBI single by Rios and a groundout by Pedro Feliz.

Notes: The last pitcher to get two hits in an inning was St. Louis` Dustin Hermanson, on April 6 at Arizona. The last Phillies hurler to do it was Dennis Cook against Houston on May 2, 1990. ... Giants reserve Edwards Guzman had a pinch single in the sixth for his first major league hit in 22 at-bats. ... San Francisco`s Barry Bonds pinch hit in the eighth inning and struck out looking. ... The last Phillies pitcher to open a season 4-0 was Randy Wolf in 1999.

(Copyright 2001 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)