Phillies Survive Pirate Rally

The Philadelphia Phillies weren`t awarded any style points for a badly needed victory. Omar Daal and his defense nearly squandered a seven-run lead, but the Phillies, who had lost eight of 11, held on to beat Pittsburgh 9-5 Wednesday and end the Pirates` season-high four-game winning streak.

"We had to forget what happened, and what`s happened the last few games, and just come back and win," said Daal (8-1), who has doubled his win total from his 19-loss season of a year ago. The Pirates` own leaky defense _ they had four errors, including the first two by Jason Kendall as an outfielder _ and Travis Lee`s double on a ball Kendall couldn`t field helped Philadelphia open a 7-0 lead in the sixth.

The lead seemed safe with Daal, who has the NL`s best winning percentage and has been the Phillies` best starter all season. But, after Daal took a four-hit shutout into the sixth, two infield errors, Kendall`s two-run double and Brian Giles` two-run homer quickly cut the lead to 7-5.

"He pitched great," manager Larry Bowa said. "He was in total control, but then we made a couple of errors. Do we have a Cy Young Award winner on this team? No, but he`s pitched pretty well, and he`s been the guy we count on."

The Phillies bullpen bailed them out to preserve their 3½-game lead in the NL East over Atlanta, which beat Florida 7-2. Bowa used Daal and three relievers to get out of the seventh, even though the Pirates had only one runner, and Jose Santiago stranded runners at second and third in the eighth while pitching 1 2-3 scoreless innings. Jose Mesa finished up.

The victory couldn`t have come at a better time for the Phillies, who were 5-11 in June even while scoring 41 runs over their previous four games. They opened a 6-0 lead with a pair of three-run innings against Bronson Arroyo (3-6), one of them after Arroyo got himself in trouble by missing the sign on a pitchout.

"We haven`t been getting clutch hits, two-out hits, but I think the momentum is starting to turn," said Jimmy Rollins, who had three hits. "We`re playing a team we need to beat and we beat them."

Lee started the second with the first of two doubles, and Marlon Anderson and Daal each moved to second on RBI singles that were misplayed by Kendall, who hadn`t committed an error in his previous 10 games as an outfielder.

Kendall played left field for the second straight night because of an injury to his left thumb that forced him to get a cortisone shot Monday.

Kendall`s biggest mistake was on a play in which he wasn`t charged with an error. After Scott Rolen`s sacrifice fly made it 4-0 in the fifth, Kendall tried to make a diving catch of Lee`s sinking liner. However, the ball landed several feet short of Kendall, allowing both runners to score and sending Lee to second with a double.

"There`s no excuses," Kendall said. "I tried to throw the ball before I fielded it (on the errors). I put us in a hole early. I feel I`m directly responsible for this loss."

Earlier in the fifth, Rollins doubled when Arroyo threw the ball down the middle on a pitchout.

"He wasn`t into the game mentally or physically," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I was disappointed."

Two more Pirates errors, on first baseman Kevin Young and third baseman Aramis Ramirez, led to Rollins` RBI single following Daal`s double in the sixth. Rollins added another run-scoring single in the eighth, and Anderson a run-scoring grounder in the ninth.

Notes: Pirates 2B Pat Meares left with a sprained ankle after tumbling over RF Derek Bell as they chased a fly ball down the right-field line in the fourth. Bell, who made a sliding grab, left later with dizziness. Only one Pirates player finished the game at the position he started. ... Kendall played left field, right field and catcher and Keith Osik, who started at catcher, finished at second base. ... Daal is 6-0 in night games. ... Kendall has 11 hits in six games since going 2-for-33. ... The Pirates have excelled in big-run comebacks despite their 24-44 record, rallying from seven runs down previously to beat Milwaukee and Minnesota. ... Philadelphia is 13-2 when Daal starts. ... The Phillies have 67 hits in five games.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)