Phillies Slam Dodgers

The Philadelphia Phillies have found one way to fire up Scott Rolen -- put him in a pennant race. Philadelphia`s star third baseman doubled twice, tripled and drove in three runs and Pat Burrell hit a grand slam as the Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-5 Friday night.

Philadelphia snapped a six-game losing streak against the Dodgers that dated to last season. The win, coupled with Atlanta`s 7-0 loss to Arizona, moved the Phillies within a game of the Braves in the NL East.

Rolen, criticized by Phillies` senior adviser Dallas Green on Monday, also made two clutch plays at third base. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .351 (13-for-37) with five homers, 10 runs scored and 13 RBI.

When asked if Green`s negative comments had inspired him up, Rolen had a stern answer.

"Absolutely not," he said. "Negativity doesn`t light a fire under me. I got a job to do and I take a lot of pride in doing it.

"We`re in the middle of a pennant race now. I`ve never been in this situation before. It`s exciting and it`s time to lay it all on the line. A lot of people didn`t believe we would be in this situation."

Phillies manager Larry Bowa, no stranger to Green`s harsh words during his playing days in World Series championship run in 1980, also agreed that Rolen`s play hasn`t changed a bit.

"Runs scored, baserunning, and everything else, except the home runs, has been really good," he said.

Rolen turned in one of his trademark defensive plays in the sixth.

With Alex Cora on first, James Baldwin attempted a sacrifice bunt. Rolen charged, barehanded the ball and threw off-balance to second base to nip Cora.

Since the break, Rolen is hitting .317 with four homers and 21 RBI in 28 games and his overall average has improved to .289.

Shawn Green and Cora each drove in two runs for the Dodgers.

Jimmy Rollins broke up a 3-3 game in the fifth with a solo homer off Baldwin (1-1). It was Rollins` 10th homer of the season and second in as many days.

The Phillies pushed across five runs, all with two outs, to take a 10-4 lead in the seventh.

Burrell continued his torrid hitting with the bases loaded when, facing Matt Herges, he slammed a 3-2 sinker into the left-field bleachers.

With the bases full, Burrell is hitting .500 (11-for-22) with three homers and 33 RBI for his career.

"I always feel comfortable with the bases loaded," Burrell said. "You know you`re going to get a pitch to hit. A pitcher doesn`t want to be too cute with anything, especially at 3-2."

Dodgers manager Tim Tracy elected to walk Bobby Abreu to get to Burrell with the bases loaded.

"We were in a situation where we certainly didn`t want Bobby Abreu to beat us." Tracy said. "We liked the matchup with (Herges) on the mound. Burrell`s grand slam is the ballgame. There`s not a whole lot else to say about it."

Nelson Figueroa (4-2) labored from the start but hung around long enough to get his third straight win. He allowed seven hits, five walks and three runs in five innings.

Green opened the second inning with a line drive homer to right field, his 32nd of the season. Cora later followed with a RBI single to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Philadelphia rallied for a 3-2 lead in the third behind Rolen`s two-run triple and Abreu`s RBI sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, Los Angeles tied it as Cora doubled home Adrian Beltre.

Game notes: Rollins has reached double figures in homers (10), doubles (21), triples (10) and stolen bases (37). He is the first player in the majors to accomplish the feat this season. ... Green has 12 homers since the All-Star break, including eight in his last 14 games. ... The Phillies lead the NL with 50 sacrifice flies. ... Figueroa doubled in the third for his first extra-base hit in the majors. ... Figueroa, Brandon Duckworth and David Coggin, the three rookies in the Phillies starting rotation, are a combined 5-0 in their last five starts.

(Copyright 2001 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News