Phillies Sweep Dodgers

Rookie Brandon Duckworth pitched seven impressive innings and Scott Rolen hit a go-ahead homer as the Philadelphia Phillies beat Los Angeles 3-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep that vaulted them back into first place in the NL East.

The Phillies lead the division by themselves for the first time since July 16. They moved one game ahead of Atlanta, which lost to Arizona 9-1. A crowd of only 21,477 sat through a 31-minute rain delay in the second inning and occasional showers to watch the Phillies complete a 5-1 homestand.

The Dodgers lost their fourth in a row and dropped 1½ games behind Arizona in the NL West.

It was the Phillies` first sweep over Los Angeles since June 9-11, 1995, at Dodger Stadium, and their first at Veterans Stadium since April 23-25, 1993.

Duckworth (2-0) was sharp in his second major league start, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings. He walked three, struck out seven and retired 13 of the last 14 batters in a row.

In 13 innings since being called up from Triple-A Scranton, Duckworth has allowed only seven hits and four runs.

Turk Wendell got one out in the eighth but gave up consecutive singles to Mark Grudzielanek and Gary Sheffield.

Eddie Oropesa relieved and walked Shawn Green. Ricky Bottalico gave up sacrifice fly to Paul LoDuca and struck out Eric Karros to end the threat.

Jose Mesa worked the ninth to pick up his 30th save in 32 opportunities.

Rolen continued his torrid hitting when he led off the fourth with a homer against Terry Adams (8-5) to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

During his current six-game hitting streak, Rolen is batting .545 (12-for-22) with four homers and seven RBIs.

Bobby Abreu`s RBI single in the fifth it 3-1. Adams had won four of his previous five starts.

The Phillies` defense bailed Duckworth out of potential trouble. Karros was robbed of extra bases twice on diving catches by left fielder Pat Burrell and center fielder Doug Glanville.

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Green couldn`t hold onto Glanville`s liner to the right-field warning track. The play was ruled an RBI double.

Gary Sheffield`s RBI groundout tied it at 1 in the third.

Notes:
The Phillies had 12 doubles, 11 homers and 32 RBIs on their six-game homestand. ... Mesa became the first Phillie with 30 saves since Bottalico recorded 34 in 1997. ... Grudzielanek snapped an 0 for 12 slump with three hits. ... The Dodgers completed a six-game road trip at 2-4.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News