Phils Climb Out of First-Inning Hole to End Losing Skid Against Padres

Randy Wolf might consider picking up something nice for Tuesday night's lineup during his travels over the next few days. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant or fancy — maybe just a card or something. Whatever it is, it should say: "Thanks for getting me off the hook."

That's because the cagey lefty earned his first win of the season despite walking in a run and giving up a grand slam during before his team even had a chance to hit in a five-run first. But before fans could throw their hands up in the air and exclaim, "Here we go again," as the team fell victim to its third, early (inside the first three innings) five-run inning in as many games, the hitters pecked away until they scored a 8-5 win and snapped a five-game losing skid.

	Pat Burrell rounds the bases after his upper deck home run to lead of the seventh inning. (AP)

OK, maybe a card and some candy too.

"It was awesome to see those guys come back like that," Wolf (1-0, 6.89) said. "It's huge because I didn't do my job as a pitcher. After that first inning, we could have just said, 'Oh no, here we go again.'"

Getting swept last weekend in Pittsburgh to culminate a 1-5 road trip will lead a team to gallows humor, but instead of just getting down and succumbing to another defeat, Wolf charged straight ahead like a bull. Sparked by a leadoff double and a stolen base by Jimmy Rollins, who willed himself to score a run in the bottom half of the inning, Wolf used his teammate's moxy as the impetus to new-found aggression.

"They scored five off of me and I left it there," the lefty said. "It was hard to swallow because I pitched exactly the way I hate to pitch. It was really embarrassing because I wasn't being aggressive and was trying to be too tricky."

Then he flipped the switch. After Deivi Cruz stroked a two-out grand slam midway off the foul pole in left to make it 5-0, Wolf retired the next 11 he faced and 13 of the last 15 before leaving after the fifth. Of those 11, he struck out five and ended up giving up just three hits. Had he not thrown 36 of his 101 pitches in that "horrible" first, the lefty could have worked into Mesa time without the help of a set-up man.

"I said to myself: 'Screw it. I'm going to go out there and if I get hit I get hit,'" he said.

Meanwhile, the Phils got the Rollins run in the first, another in the second thanks to back-to-back doubles by Pat Burrell and Marlon Anderson and another in the third when Travis Lee drove home Scott Rolen who reached via an error on a fly ball to center. By the time Burrell and Anderson capped it off with back-to-back homers in the seventh, that first inning seemed like a different game.

"He was tentative," manager Larry Bowa surmised of Wolf's outing. "He didn't trust his stuff. I told him he has to be more aggressive and he agreed."

Still, despite eight unanswered runs and snapping a four-game losing streak, Bowa's enthusiasm was tempered. He knew his team came back because of extraordinary performances by the bottom half of the lineup and a wet-behind-the-ears rookie, who has emerged as the early solidifying force in a beleaguered bullpen.

Tuesday's No. 6, 7 and 8 hitters (Lee, Burrell and Anderson) combined to go 7-for-12 with three doubles, five runs and four RBIs. Burrell came a triple away from the cycle and scored three runs.

Then, there was rookie Carlos Silva who was a starter in the minors but was so impressive during spring training that Bowa had to find a spot on the roster for him. Still new to relieving, Silva has been the team's top reliever in 10 games, checking in with a 2.25 ERA. Tuesday night, he pitched three, impressive innings where he gave up a pair of hits and even got a turn at bat in the seventh. Assuming he was finished after pitching two innings, Bowa didn't pinch hit for the kid.

"Those two home runs gave me some confidence in him," Bowa said of Silva. "Plus, no one has stepped up. He gave us what we needed and I figured we didn't have anything to lose."

But Bowa still sees weaknesses. An 8-12 record will do that.

"For as good as we came back, we did two or three things that we just can't continue to do," the skipper said. "We have to get runners over better and we can't keep giving up big innings early."

Judging on Wolf's words and the team's attitude, the Phillies agree with the manager. However, Tuesday's win is one to enjoy, especially when it seemed that it was doomed to be another ugly loss.

"It's a huge win for us," Burrell said. "To lose five out of six on the road and be down 5-0 in the first, it says a lot about the character of this team to come back."

The Phils continue their short homestand against the Padres on Wednesday when Robert Person (0-2, 4.15) pitches against Brian Lawrence (2-1, 2.20). Person pitched six innings in an 8-7 loss to the Marlins in Miami his last time out. He left the game trailing 4-3 only to have the team rally to take the lead in the eighth and then cough it back up in the bottom of the inning.

Lawrence took his first loss of the season last Friday in a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers. He allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings but had a 16-inning scoreless streak stopped.

The series wraps up with a Business Person's special on Thursday with Vicente Padilla (2-2, 2.33) facing Bobby J. Jones (1-1, 3.26)

Notes: Burrell's homer was the 61st to reach the left field upper deck in Veterans Stadium history. The last one came April 12 when the Reds' Juan Encarnacion hit one off Wolf. ... Anderson extended his hitting streak to the team's season-high 10. Meanwhile, Anderson's and Burrell's back-to-back blasts was the Phils' first back-to-backer of the season. ... The Phillies have slugged a double in every game this season and in their last 25 games dating back to last season. ... Cruz's grand slam was the second of his career. The first came when he was with the Tigers on Sept. 1, 1998 against the Rangers' Danny Patterson.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com