Jarvis, Padres End Phils Six-Game Winning Streak in 11-0 Rout

SAN DIEGO -- The last time Padres starter Kevin Jarvis pitched as well as he did Thursday afternoon in Qualcomm Stadium, one would have to look back to a game at the Vet in 1996. That day, the then Cincinnati Red out-dueled Phils lefty Michael Mimbs for a complete game win on his way to an 8-9 record.

Flash ahead five years. Jarvis has won just three games in the time that elapsed since that win in Philly and worked his way in and out of five organizations and amassing a career ERA on the northside of 6.

But when Jarvis saw those Phils uniforms Thursday, something in his mind clicked back to that day in 1996. The 30-year old journeyman buzzed through the Phillies lineup for a complete game shutout in the Padres, 11-0, victory.

Coincidence? Jarvis thinks so.

"I enjoy throwing off the Philadelphia mound, but I'm not the only one," Jarvis said. "I'd have to chalk [my success against the Phillies] up as coincidence more than anything else."

	If Tomas Perez had caught this bloop single by Bubba Trammell, it would have prevented a six-run Padres fifth.

Jarvis (1-2, 5.65) struck out 10, (including a stretch between the first and third innings were he whiffed six in a row) scattered seven hits and walked none. He set down the first nine batters he faced and only allowed two Phillies reach second base. He threw 118 pitches during his stint as the Phillies managed to hit just 10 balls out of the infield.

"As we saw in the first three games of this series, they can swing the bats," Jarvis said. "They have a very deep lineup and they are very aggressive at the plate. You have to keep these guys off balance by working both sides of the plate. You can't throw the same pitch in the same location twice."

For the most part, the Phils didn't seem to know what Jarvis was doing out there. He threw his entire repertoire of pitches and the Phillies couldn't catch up to any of them.

"Everything started with my fastball. If you can locate your fastball -- if you can get ahead with it -- that will go a long way," Jarvis explained. "But in this league, you can't get by with just a fastball. I mixed in a curveball, slider and change-up. Sometimes you have one of the three, but it just so happened that I had all of them working today."

For as good as Jarvis was, Phils starter Robert Person was, well, not too good. Person was shaky from the jump and couldn't seem to throw his fastball for strikes. Through 4 2/3 innings, the Phils righty gave up nine earned runs, eight hits and six walks while routinely falling behind in the count to nearly every hitter he faced.

Meanwhile, Person's ERA jumped from 2.49 to 4.80 after the outing while he fell to 2-2.

"It's hard to beat a team four games in a row but I didn't keep us close with the walks and Jarvis pitched a helluva game," Person said. "I have to just get ready for my next start."

Also lost in the rout was a six-game winning streak that began last Friday against Atlanta. The Phils won the first three games of the series but just couldn't complete their first four-game sweep of the Padres since 1979.

The Padres got one off Person in the first, thanks to a pair of walks and an RBI single by Phil Nevin and two more in the third on a two-run homer by Ryan Klesko. The Phils remained within striking distance until the fifth when the Padres hung six runs on the board highlighted by a three-run shot by Rickey Henderson.

In the fifth, Klesko and Nevin singled and stole second and third with one out. Bubba Trammell then lifted an RBI, bloop single over a drawn in infield that probably would have been caught by shortstop Tomas Perez had he been planning at normal depth.

Person then walked Ben Davis to load the bases and had Chris Gomez drive in a run on a sacrifice fly. Jarvis helped his own cause with an RBI single, paving the way for Henderson's three-run blast five-pitches later.

Meanwhile, the Phils got six singles and an infield double in the ninth by Kevin Jordan. The Phils sub made it to second after his pop-up to the pitchers mound landed, untouched, near the rubber. Jarvis moved out of the way thinking first baseman Dave Magadan or third baseman Alex Arias would catch the ball for the second out in the ninth.

Instead, the play became the Phils only threat.

"He didn't look like a pitcher with an 8 ERA," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said about Jarvis. "He changed speeds, he kept the ball down. He threw a good breaking ball."

Catcher Mike Lieberthal says the Phils won't dwell on the shellacking.

"We can't let this game get us down," Lieberthal said. "They crushed us today, 11-0, but we took the series. We won three-of-four and now we're going to LA on a positive note."

Now it's off to Los Angeles for the Phillies were they will play three games to finish off a seven-game, two-city west coast trip. Friday night, Amaury Telemaco (2-0, 2.91) faces the Dodgers' Australian sensation, Luke Prokopec (2-0, 1.98). During the three-game set with the Dodgers, the Phillies will miss facing ace Kevin Brown, who pitches against Pittsburgh Thursday night.

Notes: Bobby Abreu went 0-for-3 to end his six-game hitting streak. ... Jarvis pitched his third shutout and fourth complete game. ... Wednesday night Henderson passed Babe Ruth for the all-time leadership in walks. Next for the 42-year old future Hall-of-Famer is the all-time lead in runs. Henderson needs 67 more runs to pass Ty Cobb, who scored 2,245 times. He also needs 82 more hits for 3,000. ... Brian Hunter started in center for the first time this season. … The Phils lost a game in the standings in the NL East with the loss. The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals to come within four games of the Phils. At 14-7, the Phillies still have the best record in the National League.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com