Phillies drop out of NL East lead

Vladimir Guerrero was sitting on an outside pitch -- really outside.

Guerrero hit his second home run of the game, connecting with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday night to lift the Montreal Expos over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6.

The Phillies, who fell behind Atlanta for the NL East lead, lost their third in a row. They tied it in the ninth on pinch-hitter Johnny Estrada`s three-run homer off Ugueth Urbina (1-1).

Guerrero, who went 4-for-4 with a double and a walk, won it with a home run over the right-field wall on a 2-0 pitch from Rheal Cormier (5-2).

"I was looking for my pitch, and I got it," Guerrero said through an interpreter. "The first went in the ground. The second was a little high. Then I got a good pitch to swing at and I went yard with it."

A teammate of Guerrero`s with Montreal in 1997, Cormier knew about the Dominican slugger`s exceptional plate coverage.

"The pitch was actually off the corner, it`s just with him, there`s no pitch he can`t reach," Cormier said. "I`ve seen him hit balls a foot outside off (Greg) Maddux for a home run the other way. The guy is not human. He should be in another league."

It was Guerrero`s 26th home run. Earlier in the game, he became the first Montreal player to hit 25 homers in four straight seasons.

Guerrero homered for the second straight game when he drove a solo shot in the fourth off Omar Daal. Lee Stevens also homered for the second day in a row for Montreal.

Expos starter Javier Vazquez allowed a run in each of the first three innings. Bobby Abreu hit an RBI double in the first, Tomas Perez singled home a run in the second, and Abreu`s 19th homer made it 3-0 in the third.

"I was making good pitches, even in the innings I gave up runs," Vazquez said. "I stayed aggressive and everything kind of went from there."

Montreal scored three times in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.

Jose Vidro hit a tying, two-run double that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Peter Bergeron`s two-out single kept the rally going and stretched his career-best hitting string to 14 games.

Daal intentionally walked Guerrero before walking Mark Smith to load the bases. Stevens then drew a walk that forced home the go-ahead run.

Montreal added two in the eighth on Stevens` 16th homer and Mike Mordecai`s RBI single.

Philadelphia third-base coach John Vukovich was ejected by first-base umpire Angel Hernandez just after taking his spot in the coaching box before the sixth inning. Hitting coach Richie Hebner took over for Vukovich.

Game notes:
Abreu needs one more homer for his third straight 20-homer season. ... Guerrero, who has 162 career homers, hit 38 homers in 1998, 42 in 1999 and 44 last season, establishing a team record each time. ... Mordecai dived back toward third base to avoid being hit by Vidro`s broken bat on a foul ball in the fifth. Vidro doubled on Daal`s next pitch.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News