Phils Still Two Games Back

The way he's hitting, Pat Burrell might be earning more bench time.

Burrell, benched a night earlier, hit a two-run homer and helped throw out a runner at the plate as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins 5-4 Saturday night and remained two games behind first-place Atlanta.

"After that home run, he said to me, 'Have you noticed that every time you bench me I come back and get two hits?"" manager Larry Bowa said. "I told him, `Then next year, you're going to play 81 games."'

Burrell, who was 1-for-3, insisted he was not upset at being absent from Friday night's lineup.

"I felt terrible (Thursday) night, and he can see that, so he gave me a day off -- that's why he's the manager," said Burrell, who was hitting .196 in September before a pinch single Friday. "I definitely felt better tonight."

A night after wasting a 5-1 lead in a loss to the Marlins, the Phillies nearly did it again -- hours after the Braves rallied from a 5-1 lead in the ninth inning to beat the New York Mets.

"Having a 5-1 lead might be a jinx," said Bowa, whose team is 9-2 in one-run games against Florida this season. "I know it wears me out, and it wears them out. There's no room for error. Every night it's the same thing."

Brandon Duckworth (3-1) won the first time in seven starts since Aug. 12, allowing four runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings. Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 39th save in 43 chances, allowing a leadoff single to Charles Johnson before getting three straight outs. The first out was courtesy of Andy Fox's popup on a sacrifice attempt.

"I just didn't get it down," Fox said. "There's not much I can say about it. It was a good pitch."

Duckworth made many good pitches, especially while allowing one hit in the first six innings.

I want the ball at times like this," Duckworth said. "I've dreamt of these situations.

Philadelphia, which plays Atlanta in three of its final seven games, led 5-1 before Florida closed in the seventh on Derrek Lee's RBI single off Duckworth, Ramon Castro's run-scoring single off Rheal Cormier and Dave Berg's sacrifice fly off Jose Santiago.

After reloading the bases with a walk to Eric Owens, Santiago got Preston Wilson to hit into an inning-ending forceout.

Wilson's RBI double in the first put the Marlins ahead, but the Phillies prevented a second run when Owens was thrown out at the plate by shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who relayed the throw from Burrell in left. Burrell leads NL outfielders with 18 assists.

Philadelphia rallied to score four times in the fourth off Brad Penny (9-10).

After Marlon Anderson led off with a double and scored on Bobby Abreu's 45th double of the season. Doug Glanville's two-out RBI single ended Penny's scoreless streak at 18 1-3 innings and Burrell hit his 25th homer.

Glanville added an RBI single in the sixth off Penny, who allowed five runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Game notes:
Before batting practice, many players and coaches in the Phillies clubhouse silently watched the last half inning of the Braves' 8-5 victory over the Mets on television. "It would be nice if the Braves lost but we're not in control of what the Braves do," Glanville said. "It may turn out that we have one less team to worry about. If we win, we're doing our job. I don't know why we have to put all our energy in (watching the TV)." ... When asked if he thought about calling a team meeting after Friday's loss, Bowa said it wasn't the right time. "I don't think we have any illiterates out there," he said. "I think if you read the paper and you see we're two games out with a week left, you've got to realize every game is a playoff game." Bowa added his team needs a killer instinct. "When your best pitcher is on the mound, you can't say five runs is enough. You need seven runs, you need eight runs ..." Bowa said Omar Daal or Randy Wolf will start against Greg Maddux (17-10, 3.08) in Tuesday's series opener at Atlanta. ... Marlins LF Cliff Floyd, who left Friday's game in the fifth inning with a sore right wrist, pinch ran in the ninth.

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News