Figueroa Pitches Gem

Nelson Figueroa allowed two runs in 7 2-3 innings and had three hits, and Tomas Perez homered from each side of the plate as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos 10-2 Tuesday night.

Travis Lee added a three-run homer in a six-run third inning and Scott Rolen had three RBIs for the Phillies, who won for just the fifth time in 13 games since the All-Star break. After Monday night`s 3-0 shutout capped a string of listless offensive performances, manager Larry Bowa changed the starting lineup. The Phillies, who started the night two games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East, responded with six runs and eight hits in the first three innings off Tony Armas Jr. (8-9).

Rolen, struggling as the cleanup hitter, was flipped with No. 3 hitter Bobby Abreu. Left fielder Pat Burrell and shortstop Jimmy Rollins, hitting a combined 15-for-91 (.165) since the break, were replaced by Brian Hunter and Perez.

Rolen drove in the first run with his second extra-base hit in 69 at-bats, Abreu had two hits and one RBI and Perez had the first multihomer game of his major league career.

Figueroa (2-2) allowed two runs and seven hits. He has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his six starts since being recalled from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre last month.

Ryan Minor broke the shutout bid with a two-out homer in the eighth. Vladimir Guerrero followed with his 28th homer.

Figueroa started the third by hitting a single. He moved to second when Marlon Anderson walked and scored on Rolen`s double to left. Abreu followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Lee then hit a 2-1 pitch off the backdrop in left-center for his 15th homer and a 5-0 lead.

After Hunter struck out, Perez, batting left-handed, homered to right-center, giving the Phillies a 6-0 lead. Doug Glanville`s RBI single in the seventh scored Figueroa to make it 7-0.

Perez, batting right-handed against Joey Eischen, homered to left in the eighth for an 8-2 lead. Rolen then added a two-run single.

Armas, who beat the Phillies twice this season, allowed six runs and eight hits in three innings – just his second outing fewer than five innings this year.

Figueroa ran into trouble in the first inning when Jose Vidro and Guerrero hit one-out singles to put runners at first and third. But he struck out Lee Stevens and got Orlando Cabrera to fly to right.

The Expos got a runner to third with one out in the third, but Figueroa got Minor and Guerrero on groundouts to third.

Notes:
Perez is just the second Phillies player to hit homers from both sides of the plate in the same game. Steve Jeltz did it against Pittsburgh on June 8, 1989. ... Figueroa entered with just one hit in 10 at-bats. His longest outing prior to Tuesday was 7 1-3 innings in a no-decision 4-1 loss to Atlanta on June 26. ... Vidro left the game after one inning with a strained right hamstring. He`s day-to-day. ... Peter Bergeron`s 19-game hitting streak was snapped. ... Guerrero is hitting .600 (24-for-40) with seven homers and 16 RBIs against the Phillies this season.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News