Phillies Fall From First

Bruce Chen was more eager to impress his new ballclub than beat the team that traded him.

Chen pitched into the seventh inning against his former teammates, and the New York Mets held on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-5 Wednesday night. Chen improved to 3-1 in six starts since coming to New York in a July 27 trade with the Phillies. "I`m very happy with the win against my former team," Chen said. "But I play for the New York Mets and the only organization I want to impress is the New York Mets."

Chen (7-6) came to the Mets with a reputation for not being able to pitch deep into games. But he has gone at least six innings in each of his starts for the Mets, and manager Bobby Valentine is pleased with the left-hander`s performance.

I`m surprised that he`s doing this well," Valentine said. "Because that wasn`t the plan. We had five starters."

After Rick Reed was traded to Minnesota on July 31 for Matt Lawton, Chen was moved into the rotation.

Chen, who struggled so badly with Philadelphia that he was sent to Double-A Reading on July 6, allowed six hits, including a two-run homer by Scott Rolen and a three-run shot by Todd Pratt.

Chen worked six-plus innings, striking out five and walking three.

"Bruce was like Bruce," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "That`s how he pitched for us."

Armando Benitez worked the ninth for his 34th save in 36 chances. It was his 10th save in August.

The Mets scored four times in the third inning with the help of a throwing error by Phillies starter Omar Daal. They added one in the fifth on a controversial home run by Jay Payton.

"It would`ve been hard for me to argue (a reversal)," Valentine said of Payton`s drive down the left-field line, which appeared to curve foul.

Philadelphia, which has lost nine of 13, fell one game behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. The Braves beat Montreal 5-3.

Daal (12-5) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings to fall to 2-2 his last four starts. Opponents have scored 18 runs – 16 earned – in 21 1-3 innings.

The Mets scored four in the third, thanks partly to a rare Philadelphia error. Payton led off with an infield hit, Rey Ordonez singled and Chen sacrificed to move both runners up.

Benny Agbayani then hit a liner that knocked Daal`s glove off, scoring Payton. Daal, on his knees, recovered the ball and flung it underhand toward first. The ball rolled past the base for an error, and Ordonez scored.

After Mike Piazza struck out, Todd Zeile and Tsuyoshi Shinjo added RBI singles.

Payton led off the fourth with his homer. Bowa, left fielder Pat Burrell and third baseman Rolen argued with third base umpire Dale Scott, to no avail.

"Not one ump missed it, both umps missed it," Bowa said of Scott and plate umpire Larry Young. "It was a joke."

The Phillies cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth on Rolen`s 19th homer and second in two games.

The Mets added two runs in the bottom half on a wild pitch by reliever Turk Wendell, who was sent to the Phillies in the Chen trade, and an RBI single by Zeile.

Pratt, a fan favorite with the Mets before he was traded July 23, homered after Travis Lee and Doug Glanville singled to start the seventh. The New York crowd cheered Pratt as he rounded the bases.

Notes:
Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins, who leads the NL in stolen bases with 42, was picked off first in the third. It was just the fourth time Rollins was caught stealing this season, third by a pickoff play. ... The Phillies had lost five straight extra-innings game before their 11-inning win Tuesday night. ... Philadelphia has made 70 errors, the fewest in the NL this season. ... The Mets drew 24,144 fans. In the Bronx, the Yankees had a crowd of 36,855 for their game against Toronto.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News