Phillies Flatten Brewers

The heart of the Philadelphia lineup made sure the Phillies remained atop the NL East. Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell and Travis Lee -- Philadelphia`s Nos. 4-6 hitters -- combined for nine RBI as the Phillies remained in first place with a 10-4 victory Tuesday night over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Phillies, who won their fourth straight, entered with a one-game lead over the Atlanta Braves.

"They`re swinging the bats," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "The last 2, 2½ weeks, they`ve been swinging really good."

Lee drove in four runs with a two-run double, a sacrifice fly, and a run-scoring groundout. Abreu had three RBIs with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly and Burrell was 3-for-4 with two RBI.

David Coggin (4-1) allowed two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking three, for his third consecutive victory. "He had a good, sharp breaking ball," Brewers manager Davey Lopes said. "He made good pitches when he had to."

Philadelphia tagged Allen Levrault (5-8) for three runs in the first inning. The Phillies loaded the bases with none out in the first on singles by Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Anderson and a walk to Scott Rolen. Abreu and Lee sandwiched sacrifice flies around an RBI double by Pat Burrell.

"Jimmy led off, Marlon singled and it just snowballed from there," Lee said. Milwaukee answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Richie Sexson.

Philadelphia pushed the lead to 5-1 in the third inning when Lee followed a pair of two-out walks with a two-run opposite-field double to the base of the left-field wall.

"In the first inning, I left a lot of stuff up," Levrault said. "Then I walked those two guys in the third and got myself in trouble."

The Phillies added an unearned run in the fourth when Levrault threw wildly past third base, allowing Johnny Estrada to score.

Jose Hernandez`s sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 6-2, but Abreu`s 25th home run put the Phillies on top 8-2 in the seventh.

The Phillies added two runs in the ninth. Mark Sweeney`s two-run double in the bottom of the inning made it 10-4.

Notes:
Levrault, hitless in 24 career at-bats, singled in the second inning. ... Abreu stole his career-high 30th base in the third inning. The Phillies lead the NL with 119 steals. ... Milwaukee will recall right-hander Brandon Kolb from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday to replace pitcher Ben Sheets, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder. ... Philadelphia`s two first-inning sacrifice flies pushed their league-high total to 52. ... Milwaukee fell to 7-23 since the All-Star break. ... The Brewers` season strikeout total reached a major league leading 1,000 in the ninth inning when Sexson was called out on strikes. Sexson leads the majors with 136 strikeouts. ... The Phillies improved to 66-52, after winning only 65 games last season.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News