Don't Look Now, the Phillies Are Undefeated

MIAMI -- When Larry Bowa took over as the Phillies manager last November, he said his team was going to be aggressive and they were going to get dirty. In just two games, that credo has already paid off.

Tuesday night in Pro Player Stadium, Bowa's new-look Phillies used speed -- more specifically Brian Hunter's -- to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Florida Marlins. More importantly, the win gets the Phillies off to a 2-0 start and keeps Bowa perfect as the Phils manager.

At the same time, the quick start is a major reversal. Last year they started 0-3 and were 7-18 and 18-33 on their way to a 65-97 finish, which was tied for worst in the major leagues.

	Larry Bowa, thanks to his bullpen, is perfect as the Phils manager.

But before one begins conjuring memories of 1993 (which is the last time the team started the season 2-0), the two wins haven't exactly been what one would call textbook. Before Hunter's mad-dash around the bases to give the team the winning margin, the team had to climb out of an early 2-0 hole only to watch a one-run lead disappear over the left-field fence.

The team had to combat a mediocre outing by starter Robert Person, who was limited to a strict pitch-count and allowed two homers, three runs and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.

But Hunter helped leg it out for the bullpen.

Hunter, a former American League stolen base champ acquired as a free agent over the winter, led off the seventh with a pinch-hit, infield single to short. Four pitches to Doug Glanville later, Hunter swiped second. With no time to catch his breath, Hunter was on the move on the next pitch.

Glanville lifted a long fly ball to deep center, which Preston Wilson caught with his back to the infield. Wilson's momentum carried him four more steps toward the fence and by the time he was set to throw, Hunter was rounding third.

Once Wilson caught the ball, Hunter never hesitated. He ran, head down, from the word "go" and never saw if third base coach John Vukovich was sending him. A nifty slide toward the back of the plate allowed Hunter to avoid a tag from catcher Charles Johnson, who had to come up the line to retrieve the throw from Wilson.

"As soon as I came around third base, I felt a little cramp in my right leg," he said. "So I stepped kind of funny, and my left shoe came off."

When Bowa saw Hunter rounding third, he reached for the antacids.

"First I thought, 'No, no, no.' Then I thought, 'Yeah,'" Bowa said. "It was a great play. The dugout erupted. Sometimes plays like that are even better than a home run."

	Brian L. Hunter slides in safely after tagging up from second base in the 7th inning.

At first glance, Vukovich thought sending Hunter was a no-brainer. But had he known Hunter had a "flat tire" he may have reconsidered.

"He tagged up so perfectly and was off the catch so well," Vukovich said. "All the little things were there. But if I had seen him blow his shoe, I would have held him up."

Florida manager John Boles was unhappy his team allowed Hunter's run.

"That's a play I don't expect a guy to score on," Boles said. "But he's very fast. He took the gamble, and he won."

After grabbing the 4-3 lead. Bowa started his piecework with the Phillies bullpen to hold the lead. Chris Brock threw an inning and a third, rookie Eddie Oropesa faced three hitters and Ricky Bottalico faced four more (three strike outs) before handing it over to closer Jose Mesa.

Unlike Monday's season-opener, Mesa was about to nail down the save. Brock recorded his first win and the second straight for the bullpen.

Meanwhile, the Phillies had to battle back early. Person allowed a leadoff double to Luis Castillo in the first before giving up a long homer to right to Cliff Floyd two batters later. The Phillies came back in the second, thanks to a solo shot by Mike Lieberthal and tied it in the third when Bobby Abreu singled, stole second and came around to score on a double by Scott Rolen.

It stayed 2-2 until the fifth when Abreu singled in Glanville, who led off the inning with a double. That lead was short-lived however. Person threw a gopher ball to Eric Owens with one out in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-3.

That set the stage for Hunter in the seventh.

But to keep the lead, the Phillies needed -- and got -- a strong outing from the bullpen. In just two games, the 'pen has gone 12 innings with a 0.75 ERA, 13 strikeouts and eight hits. Sure, it's early and sure, they're opening up with Florida. But that's not too bad for a bullpen that helped the team lose 97 games last year.

Bowa, as shown by his jigsaw maneuvering with the pitching staff, needs quality work from the bullpen in the early part of the season if his club is going to be competitive. Person, and starters Randy Wolf and Bruce Chen will be on limited pitch-counts this spring because they weren't able to get in the necessary work during Spring Training.

That being the case, Bowa elected to break camp with 12 pitchers on the roster and just five bench players. Sure, it could hurt the team in an extra inning game (spot-reliever Amaury Telemaco batted for himself in the 13th in Monday's win) but if the result is stronger outings in the late innings, Bowa will gladly take it.

Notes: Jupiter, Fla. resident Mike Schmidt threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Tuesday's game. ... The Phillies started 3-0 in 1993. They haven't started 2-0 since. ... Attendance dropped from 36,146 for the opener to 10,257.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com