Phillies Get 5th Straight Win

Jeff Torborg isn`t getting much to cheer about in his new job.

Johnny Estrada, Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen each drove in three runs to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to their fifth straight win Friday night, 13-2 over the Montreal Expos.

The Expos lost their second straight under Torborg, who took over when Felipe Alou was fired Thursday. At 21-34, Montreal is last in the NL East, 15 games behind the division-leading Phillies.

"That was not a good-looking game," Torborg said.

Bruce Chen (2-3) allowed four hits and one run in seven innings as Philadelphia won for the 10th time in 11 games.

"Today was a great day," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "Pitching, hitting and a big day for Chen, I think. I haven`t seen Chen pitch like that. He was ahead of the hitters and he was aggressive."

Estrada`s three-run double with two outs in the first capped the Phillies` five-run outburst against Britt Reames (2-8), who lost his eighth straight start.

Reames was optioned to Triple-A Ottawa after the game and lefty Scott Stewart was recalled.

"We`ve been swinging the bat really well," Estrada said. "He`s got some pretty good stuff, but he left some balls up in the zone early and we capitalized on his mistakes. It`s always good to score some runs right from the start."

Abreu hit a two-run single in the fourth. Rolen, who had an RBI single in the first, added a two-run homer later in the inning to end Reames` outing.

"It was a 3-2 curveball," Rolen said. "I certainly wasn`t trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark. I was just trying to put the ball in play."

Pat Burrell hit an RBI double, extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games, as the Phillies scored three times in the seventh.

The Phillies had 13 hits to Montreal`s six. Philadelphia has outhit the Expos 25-11 through the first two games of their four-game series.

Vladimir Guerrero went 3-for-3 for Montreal, including his 10th home run.

Jimmy Rollins walked with one out in the first and scored on Abreu`s double. Rolen singled home Abreu to make it 2-0 and Travis Lee walked.

One out later, Marlon Anderson hit an infield single to load the bases as Reames was late covering first.

"I got over there late," Reames said. "I hesitated and the guy was pretty quick getting down the line. That`s my fault, totally my fault."

Estrada doubled to left-center, clearing the bases and putting the Phillies ahead 5-0.

"Not covering first base killed us," Torborg said. "A couple of physical errors, you`re going to have that. A mental error like that, an extra three runs right away -- boy, that`s tough. And we`re scuffling to score runs anyway, so that hurts."

Philadelphia scored four in the fourth to chase Reames on Abreu`s two-run single and Rolen`s fifth homer.

"We`ll get that kid straightened out," Torborg said. "He`s got good stuff, he`s just all over the place. He`s a competitor."

Game notes:
Chen made his second straight start against Reames. Chen wasn`t involved in the decision in the Phillies` 7-5 win in the first game of Sunday`s doubleheader in Philadelphia. ... Chen has allowed a team-high 13 home runs in his 10 starts. Chen has allowed a homer in all but one of his starts and two homers in four of them. ... Facing Chen, Torborg batted lefty-hitting first baseman Lee Stevens sixth for the first time this season. Stevens had batted fifth 34 times, third 16 times, and cleanup twice. 3B Fernando Tatis batted fifth for just the second time this season. ... Torborg is considering batting Guerrero third at some point. Guerrero has batted cleanup in each of his 53 starts this season

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News