Phillies Rally in 9th

Scott Rolen singled home the winning run off John Smoltz in the ninth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the Atlanta Braves 4-3 Tuesday night, further tightening the NL East race. Rolen, who homered twice off Greg Maddux in the Phillies' 5-2 win Monday night, helped the Phillies pull within 1½ games of the first-place Braves. The Phillies have won the first two games of a four-game series. The Braves had won six of seven before terrorist attacks forced postponement of last week's games.

Philadelphia trailed 3-2 when pinch-hitter Felipe Crespo singled to start the ninth. Smoltz then threw wide to first on a pickoff and pinch-runner Brian Hunter went all the way to third.

After Jimmy Rollins walked, Doug Glanville tied it with a sacrifice fly.

Bobby Abreu followed with a single to right, moving Rollins to third. Rolen then hit a 1-1 pitch to deep right, scoring Rollins.

Smoltz (2-3) had saves in his first seven chances. Ricky Bottalico (3-4) pitched a scoreless ninth.

After an emotional night Monday, it was mostly back to baseball at Veterans Stadium. Fans waved white rally towels, but many still carried American flags. The crowd twice chanted "USA, USA," saw another video presentation and again sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Rookie Brandon Duckworth outdueled Tom Glavine, but the Braves rallied against relievers Rheal Cormier and Turk Wendell in the eighth.

Atlanta tied it at 2 on Brian Jordan's RBI single in the eighth. Chipper Jones hit a ground-rule double to start the inning off Cormier, and scored when Jordan's hard grounder skipped under third baseman Rolen's glove.

B.J. Surhoff then hit a grounder to first, but Travis Lee's throw to second nailed Jordan in the back, putting runners at first and second.

Wendell relieved and catcher Todd Pratt picked Jordan off second after Andruw Jones missed a bunt attempt. Wendell then retired Jones on a fly out, but Javy Lopez lined a 3-2 pitch off the center-field wall to score Surhoff.

Wendell, booed before he even threw a pitch, left after walking pinch-hitter Ken Caminiti, and gestured at fans behind the dugout and near the third-base line.

Duckworth, making his eighth start, allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. He retired 14 of 15 after loading the bases with two outs in the first.

Glavine allowed two runs and three hits in six innings. He tied a career-high with seven walks _ three intentional.

Notes:
Abreu was 2-for-30 off Glavine before hitting a double in the third inning. ... Andruw Jones struck out twice after fanning four times Monday night. ... Glanville was 0-for-3 off Glavine. He's 6-for-37 against him lifetime. ... Rollins now leads the NL with 44 steals.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News