Phillies Shutout Marlins

Bruce Chen singled, hesitated rounding first and flopped, belly-first into second, well behind the throw.

It`s a good thing he pitches better than he slides.

Chen allowed four hits in six innings and Scott Rolen hit a three-run homer Friday night to lift the Philadelphia Phillies over the Florida Marlins 5-0.

Chen (4-4) struck out three and walked two to win his second straight start over Florida. He left after Kevin Millar doubled to start the seventh, but Jose Santiago retired the next three batters and pitched a scoreless eighth.

Wayne Gomes worked the ninth for the Phillies, who recorded their third shutout of the season.

Chen`s base-running adventure came right before he went out to pitch the seventh.

"I slid too soon. I said, `Please let me reach the bag.` If I got halfway there, it would`ve been embarrassing," Chen said, adding that he got a mouthful of dirt.

Philadelphia`s victory coupled with Atlanta`s 3-1 loss to the Mets put the Phillies one game ahead of the Braves for the NL East lead.

Rolen, who has struggled all season, gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the first by hitting just his eighth homer, among the fewest of any cleanup hitter in the majors.

Doug Glanville tripled to lead off the inning and Bobby Abreu drew a one-out walk before Rolen homered into the left-field seats.

"I felt very comfortable tonight, best I felt in a long time," Rolen said.

A sacrifice fly by Jimmy Rollins made it 4-0 in the fourth and Glanville hit his 11th homer for a 5-0 lead in the seventh.

Marlins starter Chuck Smith (4-4) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.

"We`re in a little funk right now, but we`ll get back on top," Smith said. "We`ve got two good pitchers coming up."

The Phillies, who were in first place for 78 straight days, fell a half-game behind Atlanta on Wednesday after the Braves completed a three-game sweep at Veterans Stadium.

But manager Larry Bowa held a closed-door meeting for nearly 30 minutes after Wednesday`s loss and it has worked so far. Philadelphia swept a doubleheader from the Marlins on Thursday, then won their third straight for the first time since winning five in a row last month.

After topping out at 35-18 on June 1, the Phillies went 7-16 before winning the last three.

"Anytime you get swept in a series, it`s very important to bounce back," Bowa said. "They`ve played hard, executed and we won some games."

Chen, who had troubles early in the season, gave the Phillies` tired bullpen a much-needed boost by pitching into the seventh. Chen has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts and is 3-1 during that stretch.

"Chen always gives us trouble," Marlins manager Tony Perez said. "We were swinging at bad pitches and we helped him out."

Chen is 2-1 against the Marlins with a 1.57 ERA in four starts this season.

"It`s very important when you get runs early because it gives you more room for error," he said.

Game notes:
The Phillies placed reliever Ricky Bottalico on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder and recalled LHP Ed Vosberg, who was sent to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes Barre between games of Thursday`s doubleheader. ... A crowd of 36,433 came out on fireworks night at Veterans Stadium. It was the second-largest crowd of the season. ... Rolen is batting .438 with four homers and 15 RBIs in nine games on fireworks night. ... Marlins OF Preston Wilson is 10 for his last 81. ... Glanville`s 11 homers ties a career-high set in 1999. ... Florida has been shut out nine times.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News