Phillies Drop Two Behind Braves

Philadelphia Phillies manager Larry Bowa looks at the calendar and sees the end drawing near.

"All of our losses now are devastating," he said. "We're running out of games."

Kevin Millar's homer off Cliff Politte with one out in the 10th completed Florida's rally from a four-run deficit Friday night for a 6-5 victory over the Phillies.

Philadelphia dropped two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East with eight games remaining.

"I tried to throw a fastball away and I got in the middle of the plate," Politte said. "He hit it out. Bad pitch. When you get in tight situations like that, you can't make mistakes."

Antonio Alfonseca (3-4) pitched a perfect 10th for the win. Five relievers combined on seven innings of four-hit relief as the Marlins overcame a 5-1 deficit.

Politte (2-3) came on in the 10th and got Mike Lowell to fly out before giving up Millar's homer on a 2-2 pitch. Millar, who had been 0-for-4 for the game, has 19 homers.

"It was a fastball over the middle," said Millar, who hit his first walkoff homer in the major leagues. "We got a big `W' for the team. We've struggled against the Phillies. You don't go out there trying to be the spoiler. But you play to win."

It was just the Marlins' fourth victory in 17 games against the Phillies this season.

"We can be the spoilers, but we're trying to win games," Marlins manager Tony Perez said. "If we win, we'll spoil something."

Phillies closer Jose Mesa let a 5-4 lead slip away in the ninth inning, his fourth blown save in 42 chances this season. Two singles and a passed ball put runners on first and third with one out, and Eric Owens' sacrifice fly off Mesa tied it 5-5.

Until then, Phillies starter Robert Person was in line to win his seventh straight decision. Person scattered seven hits over 6 2-3 innings, allowing four runs, three earned.

"We're up 5-1," Person said. "It would appear to most people that we've got this thing won. I did what I thought I could do. It's just one of those things."

Philadelphia knocked out Ryan Dempster after three innings. Dempster allowed five runs and six hits in his second-shortest outing of the year.

"Everybody talks about us being the spoilers," Dempster said. "It's not about that. We want to beat these guys to give them a taste of what we've been through ourselves."

Scott Rolen and Travis Lee hit back-to-back homers off Dempster to open the third inning, giving Philadelphia a 5-1 lead. The solo shots gave Rolen 24 homers this season and Lee 20.

"We've played all year pretty easy and laid back," Rolen said. "If we start squeezing a little bit, we'll be in trouble."

Florida scored two runs in the fifth to get within 5-3. Andy Fox led off with a home run. With two outs, Derrek Lee singled and scored when right fielder Bobby Abreu misplayed Owens' single, letting the ball get past him for an error.

The Marlins scored another run on Owens' RBI single in the seventh. Jose Santiago then replaced Person and got Preston Wilson to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

Doug Glanville put the Phillies ahead 2-0 in the first inning with a two-run single. Jimmy Rollins walked, Abreu doubled, and Glanville drove both home.

The Phillies added a run in the second when Rollins walked with two outs and scored on Marlon Anderson's double.

Mike Lowell's 19th home run made it 3-1 in the second.

Game notes:
Rolen and Lee gave the Phillies their third set of consecutive homers this season. ... Marlins LF Cliff Floyd left the game in the fifth inning with soreness in his right wrist. He's listed as day-to-day. ... Rolen has hit four home runs against Florida this season; Lee has three. ... Lowell's homer was Florida's 161st of the season, setting a team record. Lowell's 92 RBI are a career high. ... Two of Fox's three home runs this season have come in the last two games. ... Dempster's shortest outing of the season: 2 2-3 innings on May 15 against San Francisco.

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News