Phillies Fall Out Of 1st. Place Tie

Javier Vazquez started September where he left off in August.

Vazquez won his fifth straight decision when Orlando Cabrera hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and the Montreal Expos beat Philadelphia 6-2 Sunday, dropping the Phillies out of a first-place tie in the NL East.

Cabrera`s third hit of the game earned Vazquez (15-11) the victory. Vazquez was 5-1 with a 0.55 ERA in August.

"He`s been unbelievable over this stretch," Expos manager Jeff Torborg said. "He didn`t have his curveball for the middle part of the game but he stayed in there and battled."

The Phillies lost for the 12th time in 17 games. They fell one game behind Atlanta, which defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-4.

With a good mix of fastballs and changeups, Vazquez allowed two runs and five hits over eight innings. He struck out seven -- six Phillies were caught looking -- and walked two.

Vazquez found his curveball at the right time, fanning Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen with the pitch in the eighth inning with a runner on second base.

"The curve wasn`t as sharp through the early part of the game but I got some big outs with it late," the pitcher said.

Torborg surprised many, including Vazquez, when he let the pitcher hit for himself in the eighth inning with two runners on in a 2-2 game.

"He deserved to hit there," Torborg said. "I had a feeling. I wanted to give him a chance to win the game. You try to do that for your guys. I just didn`t want him to lose a game on my gamble."

Said Vazquez: "I was really surprised that he let me hit. It was pretty awesome. Something like that gives you even more confidence."

Tim Raines, who also had three hits for the Expos, scored the go-ahead run in the ninth on Cabrera`s single off Jose Mesa (1-2).

Raines is hitting .414 (12-for-29) in the leadoff spot.

"Is (Raines) amazing or what?" Torborg asked. "It looks like he has four or five more years left."

Raines, who turns 42 on Sept. 16, wasn`t so sure about that.

"Some days I do, some days I don`t," Raines said. "I felt good today. I`m much more comfortable in the leadoff spot because that`s something I`ve done basically my whole career."

Montreal scored two more runs on second baseman Marlon Anderson`s error, and added a run on Michael Barrett`s single.

The Phillies lead the NL in fielding percentage, but made three errors.

"We`ve played good defense all year," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "It`s going to happen some time."

Anderson made it 2-all when he led off the seventh with his 11th homer of the season.

Montreal took a quick 2-0 lead off Brandon Duckworth. Raines led off the game with a triple, Jose Vidro doubled and Geoff Blum hit a sacrifice fly.

Vazquez retired the first 12 batters in order. Rolen led off the fourth with a double, stole third and scored on Barrett`s wild throw.

Vazquez avoided trouble in the sixth when, with a runner on first, Raines made a sliding catch on Abreu`s liner into the left-center field gap.

Bowa argued with third-base umpire Ron Barnes, who made the call. Television replays showed that the ball was trapped.

"In all fairness, (Barnes) asked for help," Bowa said. "But they weren`t going to change it. You have to respect him for asking."

Game notes:
Raines hit his first triple since May 6, 1998. ... 1B Lee Stevens drew two intentional walks. He leads the Expos with 58 walks. ... Vazquez went 2-for-4, lifting his season average to .254. ... Anderson has hit in 28 of his last 32 games (.358). ... The three-game series drew a total attendance of 51,913.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: 6 ABC - Action News