Phils eek out another 1- run win

Larry Bowa felt lucky Thursday night.

His Philadelphia Phillies got another one-run win to move into a tie for first place. More importantly, Marlon Anderson`s injury wasn`t nearly as serious as it looked.

Anderson singled to start a two-run rally in the eighth inning, then was carried off the field after an awkward fall in the ninth as Philadelphia beat the New York Mets 3-2.

Bowa initially feared Anderson would be out for the season, but he only strained his left hamstring and is day-to-day.

"I thought he broke an ankle or blew out his knee and it was just a hamstring," Bowa said. "Worst-case scenario, he`s out two weeks. We can deal with that. It could have been a lot worse."

Instead of lamenting the loss of a key player, the Phillies were gathered around a television in their clubhouse after the game. They watched Atlanta lose in Montreal to drop into a tie with Philadelphia for first place in the NL East.

"It`s still early, but it`s nice to be able to cheer for another team," said Jimmy Rollins, whose two-out, tiebreaking RBI single off Rey Ordonez`s glove led the Phillies to their third straight win.

"It`s always good to be in first. I`d rather be the team people are chasing than chasing other teams."

The scare about Anderson came in the ninth inning. With a runner on third and two outs, the second baseman hit a high chopper to third baseman Robin Ventura. Ventura barehanded the ball and threw out Anderson.

Anderson`s left foot skidded as it touched first base and he fell to the turf. He grabbed his left leg and was carried off the field.

"I think it looked a lot worse than it was," Anderson said.

Earlier, Anderson keyed the winning rally by getting his first hit in 16 career at-bats off Rick Reed (8-6). Scott Rolen followed with a double to knock out the Mets` starter.

"I just didn`t do the job in the eighth," Reed said.

Dennis Cook came in and gave up a game-tying sacrifice fly to Bobby Abreu and struck out Travis Lee.

Rollins, the Phillies` All-Star rookie shortstop, followed with a hard two-hopper to Ordonez`s left. The ball bounced off the shortstop`s glove and into center field for a go-ahead single.

"I took my eye off it. I saw him hit it and I thought we were out of the inning," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "I guess that ball eluded Rey a little. I guess the ball took a bad hop."

The Phillies, who left two on in the fifth and the bases loaded in the seventh, had been 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position before the hit by Rollins, who batted sixth for the first time this year.

"When I saw I was hitting sixth, I knew there would be guys on base," said Rollins, who had two RBI. "I took advantage of my opportunities."

Randy Wolf allowed only two hits and one run in six innings but ended up with the no-decision. Jose Santiago (2-2) got the win despite giving up Vance Wilson`s RBI double in the seventh. Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 29 chances.

The Phillies started their 10-game roadtrip by rallying for two runs in the eighth inning. They won for just the fourth time in 43 games when trailing after seven innings and improved to 18-12 in one-run games.

"We were lucky," Bowa said. "There`s a lot of luck involved in winning one-run games. I`m not going to try to analyze it. We`re just going to ride it out now."

The Mets, the lowest-scoring team in the majors, have scored two or fewer runs 41 times in 103 games. New York has lost five of seven since a season-long five-game winning streak.

Wilson, starting for the banged-up Mike Piazza, was involved in both Mets` runs. He was hit by a pitch leading off the third inning and later scored on Joe McEwing`s groundout.

After Todd Zeile led off the seventh with a double -- just his third extra-base hit of the month -- Wilson hit a one-out double for his first RBI in his 22nd career at-bat to make it 2-1.

The Phillies scored their first run in the fifth inning when Lee tripled and came in on Rollins` groundout.

Game notes:
Piazza did not start because of a sore right arm he injured sliding headfirst into home Wednesday in Florida. He pinch hit in the ninth and flied out. ... Rollins batted sixth for the first time this season. ... Mets starters have allowed three or fewer earned runs in 20 of 24 games. ... Reed has one win in his last seven starts. ... The Phillies lead the NL with 102 steals. ... The Mets had been 34-1 when leading after seven innings.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News