Rolen Homers, Doubles to Lead Phils Past Braves, 7-4

To be fair, the Phils have played five of their eight games this season against the Atlanta Braves. If there is one reason for the team's horrendous start of the 2002 campaign, facing one of the best pitching staffs in the game could have something to do with it.

But even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. For those offensive rudderless Phils, Tuesday night's 7-4 win at the Vet is especially sweet because it gave the first glimpses that this team can actually hit. For a team that entered its eighth game with a .226 batting average and a .176 (12-for-68) mark with runners in scoring position, the mini-barrage is newsworthy.

	Bobby Abreu congratulates Scott Rolen after his first-inning homer during Tuesday's win against the Braves. (AP)

And why not? For the first time in a game this young season, the Phillies registered double-digits in hits, which directly correlates to their largest, run output this season. More importantly, the team batted a robust 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Perhaps even more poignant is that in baseball, yesterday's goats can quickly become today's heroes. Just look at Scott Rolen.

The gold glove third-sacker belted a two-out, two-run homer in the first and then a clutch, two-out line drive double to drive home the game-winning run in the seventh off reliever Tim Spooneybarger. All of this comes a day after Rolen struck out, grounded into a double play and popped up weakly with the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth inning with no outs.

Redemption comes quickly.

"That's the spot I want to be in," said Rolen of his chances in pressure situations on consecutive nights. "I want to be up there, but [John] Smoltz got the best of me [Monday night]. It didn't stay with me. Just like what happened tonight won't stay with me. It's a different game and a different pitcher tomorrow night."

Either way, manager Larry Bowa says Rolen is the catalyst.

"Scotty got big hits all night," Bowa said. "When Scotty gets big hits, we score a lot of runs."

His big double in the seventh off Braves' starter Spooneybarger was the big blow in the four-run seventh. It all started when Doug Glanville led off the inning with a double and was driven home a batter later by pinch hitter Ricky Ledee to knot the game at 4. However, the game seemed poised to stay tied when Jimmy Rollins hit into a fielder's choice and Marlon Anderson struck out. Based on a 1-for-12 by the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters in Monday's loss where the heart of the order was only able to hit the ball out of the infield twice, hope was fleeting.

But Bobby Abreu singled to put runners on first and second and set the table for Rolen.

"I didn't carry over [Monday's] game into [Tuesday] and I'm not going to carry this game into the next one," Rolen said. "Tomorrow is a new day and we'll face a new pitcher. If I brought all that other stuff into this game, I wouldn't be standing here right now."

Then, Mike Lieberthal stroked a two-run single to drive in Abreu and Rolen and put the icing on the cake.

Logically, it was only a matter of time before the Phils busted out of the seven-game doldrums. Perhaps some of the credit should go to Bowa for re-shuffling the lineup once again. After Monday's heart of the order went 1-for-12 with the five strikeouts, Bowa moved Lieberthal up from No. 7 to the five-spot. He pushed Travis Lee and Pat Burrell down a peg to six and seven, respectively, and kept Glanville in the eight hole.

The result was a 4-for-11 from Rolen, Lieberthal and Lee, which could have very easily been a 5-for-11 had Marquis not speared a shockingly hard hit comebacker by Lee during the second.

"Everybody knows we're going to hit," said Lieberthal who is four for his last 11 over the last three games. "It's early in the season and this team always starts out slow."

The team wouldn't be standing in their clubhouse with the celebratory music blaring had starter Terry Adams not kept the game close. They especially wouldn't have been getting jiggy with it had not relievers Jose Santiago, Ricky Bottalico and Jose Mesa shut the Braves down over the final 2 1/3.

Adams, in just his second start as a Phillie, allowed just three hits through the first six innings but simply got tired in the seventh. That's where the Braves got four hits, including a three-run opposite field bomb by Javy Lopez, which briefly took the lead away from Adams and the Phils.

Regardless that he couldn't finish the seventh, Bowa says the blame should be placed on him and not Adams who was a reliever for six years until being converted to a starter by the Dodgers last season. Adams, he says, should have been removed before he could have thrown the home run pitch to Lopez.

"I am going to take the blame," Bowa said. "He gets to that sixth inning there. He has not started his whole career. I have to be more aware of that. That was my fault, not his."

Adams can't believe he gave up the homer.

"It was a bad, bad pitch," Adams said. "Every game you make one mistake and when he hits it out of the ballpark, you really can't believe it."

But Lieberthal thinks the team truly showed its mettle after Lopez's blast. It would have been very easy for the Phils to just play out the string and accept their fate. Instead, Lieberthal says, they fought back.

"We needed a break bad, real bad," he said. "When Javy (Lopez) hit that home run, it was like a crusher. This was an important game. We lost last night. If we didn't win tonight, then it really puts the pressure on in the next two games."

But if Bowa takes the blame for Adams' seventh, then he should get a thumbs up for going with Santiago, Bottalico and Mesa. That's because the trio retired six straight before a two-out single in the ninth.

Regardless, Mesa notched his third save in as many chances.

The Phils and Braves play the penultimate game of their four-game set on Wednesday when Brandon Duckworth (1-0, 1.50) faces 22-year old John Ennis, who will get the call-up from Double-A Greenville to make his Major League-debut. Originally, Albie Lopez was slated to pitch on Wednesday but was scratched because he threw two innings of relief in last Sunday's 14-inning win against the Mets after starting the two days prior.

Duckworth is coming off a career-high 10-strikeout game in a win against the Marlins last Friday.

Thursday's series finale will feature Tom Glavine (1-0, 1.35) up against a yet to be determined Phillie. Chances are, that Phillie could be Randy Wolf who is eligible to come off the disabled list. If Wolf is activated to make his first start of the season, David Coggin would be shifted to the bullpen and a reliever -- possibly Hector Mercado or Carlos Silva -- would be optioned to Scranton.

Notes: Bowa said Lieberthal will take Wednesday off. Todd Pratt will catch instead. ... Both of Rolen's home runs this season have come off Marquis. ... In the first, Abreu walked to extended his streak to seven games with a walk. Additionally, Abreu is tied with Chipper Jones for the league lead in walks with 10. ... Ledee's RBI single in the seventh was the Phillies' first pinch hit of the season.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com