Red Sox Rally Past Phillies

Batting fourth was contagious for Dante Bichette, who filled in smoothly Sunday for the ailing Manny Ramirez.

Bichette went 3-for-4 with a home run to lead the Boston Red Sox past the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4. Ramirez, the AL leader in homers and batting average, stayed out of uniform with a fever and sore throat.

The Red Sox didn`t say how long he`d be out, but Ramirez`s absence won`t create problems if Bichette keeps hitting well. "I feel relaxed, comfortable," Bichette said. "I feel right."

He batted mostly third or fourth the last eight seasons with Colorado and Cincinnati and was upset with his part-time role early this season.

"I accepted the role and tried to perform the best I could," Bichette said. "If I go 0-for-4 in the fourth spot people will say, `How bad did we miss Manny?` So I avoided that."

Boston general manager Dan Duquette said Ramirez might have strep throat. Ramirez batted fourth in all 60 games before Sunday, but Bichette is hitting .330 and has three homers in his last five starts.

"I do regret hanging an 0-2 split pitch to Bichette" for the homer, Philadelphia starter Robert Person said. "Other than that, I pitched well."

Boston, the AL East leader, is 8-3 in its last 11 games. Philadelphia, first in the NL East, is in a 2-6 slide.

Bichette`s fourth homer of the season tied the game 1-1 in the fourth inning, after Philadelphia`s Jimmy Rollins hit his sixth home run in the first off Hideo Nomo (6-3).

Then Bichette, who went 7-for-11 in the series, singled and scored the tying run in a three-run sixth when Boston took a 4-3 lead.

Trot Nixon`s RBI single made it 5-3 in the seventh before Philadelphia loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Eric Valent`s force-play grounder drove in Bobby Abreu, who doubled. But Rod Beck struck out Johnny Estrada to end the inning.

Derek Lowe pitched the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.

He committed a throwing error on a routine grounder then benefited from a call by second-base umpire Dan Iassonga when shortstop Mike Lansing dropped a throw from second baseman Jose Offerman on an attempted double play. Iassonga ruled Lansing dropped the ball while transferring it from his glove and called Doug Glanville out, although replays indicated otherwise.

"Those are some of the toughest plays to call," Lowe said. "We might have gotten the benefit of the doubt."

Phillies manager Larry Bowa argued briefly but was calm after the game.

"I thought that game should have been won," Bowa said. "We just have a couple of guys struggling in the bullpen."

One is left-hander Rheal Cormier, who pitched for Boston the past two seasons.

Boston started its sixth-inning rally with two outs. Carl Everett hit his eighth homer, and Bichette singled, chasing Person. Cormier came on but gave up run-scoring hits to three of the four lefties he faced.

Troy O`Leary doubled to deep center field to score Bichette. Then Brian Daubach hit a fly-ball double just inside the left-field line to drive in O`Leary for a 4-3 lead. In the seventh, Nixon`s RBI single followed Lansing`s double.

Nomo struggled in the fifth, when the Phillies scored twice. Pat Burrell singled, took third on Valent`s double and scored on Estrada`s groundout. Glanville singled in Valent.

"He pitched well. He kept us in the game," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said, referring to Nomo.

Notes: Valent played the field for the first time in the majors and made a diving catch in left. He was the DH Friday and Saturday after being promoted from Scranton, where he led the International League in RBIs. ... Glanville has a 14-game hitting streak. ... Boston`s 11 homers in its last six games were all solo shots. ... Philadelphia went 5-for-5 in steal attempts, increasing its streak to 25 successful attempts. ... Boston`s Shea Hillenbrand, who had walked twice all season, walked three times Sunday _ once intentionally _ despite being in an 0-for-14 slump. He has 235 official at-bats.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)