Phillies Continue Falling

A players-only meeting couldn`t change the way the Philadelphia Phillies are playing. Robin Ventura had three RBIs and missed a cycle by a triple as the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 7-4 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.

The free-falling Phillies have lost four straight and 15 of 20. They remained three games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. The Braves lost to Montreal 10-4.

Before the game, Bowa chastised his team for not showing enough urgency despite being in contention for a playoff spot.

"As a manager, it`s hard for me to fathom no excitement in a pennant race," Bowa said. "I can`t understand why players need motivation in September."

The team held a meeting after batting practice in which some of the newly acquired veterans – like Todd Pratt and Turk Wendell – as well as other players spoke out.

"We`re still in this," said Wendell, who played in the postseason with the Mets the last two years. "If we lose a game, it`s not the end of the season. If we win a game, it doesn`t mean we`re in the playoffs.

"I tried to explain to them that being in the playoffs is fun. You just have to do everything you`ve done during the course of the season. You can`t change now. When you go out on the field, tell yourself you want to be the guy in any situation."

Bowa said that a string of close games might have taken a toll mentally on the Phillies. This one wasn`t close from the start.

Starter David Coggin (4-5) faced six batters. He walked the first three, allowed three straight singles and left trailing 4-0.

Those were all the runs Al Leiter needed.

Leiter (11-10) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings to win his fourth straight start. He`s 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA since Aug. 3.

"I realized I had to battle every at-bat, every pitch because those guys had a good idea, a good game plan against me," Leiter said.

Matt Lawton, Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza walked to start the game. Tsuyoshi Shinjo then singled on a 1-2 pitch for a 1-0 lead. Ventura followed with another RBI single on a 1-2 pitch, and Jay Payton`s two-run single made it 4-0.

Mark Johnson`s run-scoring triple in the third off Vicente Padilla gave the Mets a 5-0 lead. But the Phillies scored three times in the fourth to cut the deficit.

Doug Glanville led off with his 14th homer, and Pat Burrell hit a two-out, two-run shot to close to 5-3. Six of Burrell`s 22 homers this season came against New York.

Bobby Abreu hit his 26th homer leading off the ninth off Rick White to make it 7-4.

Bowa found no comfort in seeing that the Braves also lost.

"Atlanta is so far away from my mind right now, I could care less," he said. "We`re not on the same page. The standings indicate we`re in a pennant race. We`re not playing like it."

Ventura, starting for the first time in the series, quickly gave the Mets another four-run cushion with a two-run homer off Padilla in the fifth. Ventura entered the game batting .206 with runners in scoring position.

"It`s nice to get some hits, get guys to score. It did me some good," Ventura said.

Coggin has lost his last four starts and has an 8.22 ERA in that span. He nearly lost his spot in the rotation after his last start against the Mets and isn`t likely to remain in it after this one.

"It was the worst feeling in my life, not just the game," Coggin said. "It was torture internally and externally."

Notes:
The Phillies are 37-49 since opening an eight-game lead in the NL East on June 1. ... The Mets (68-72) hadn`t been four games under .500 since May 8, when they were 14-18. ... Abreu is hitting .176 (13-for-74) with one homer and nine RBIs since Aug. 14. ... The Mets went 11-8 against the Phillies to finish with a winning record against them for the first time since 1998. ... The last time New York swept the Phillies was May 1998 at Veterans Stadium. ... Burrell has hit 10 of his 40 career homers against the Mets. ... Rookie RHP Doug Nickle knocked down Piazza with a pitch in the ninth in just his fifth career outing and first this season. ... Only 16,089 fans turned out at the Vet.

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

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: 6 ABC - Action News