Phillies Come Up Short Against Giants, 4-2

For five innings Friday night, Phils lefty Bruce Chen pitched as though he was living a dream. He worked his way through the vaunted San Francisco Giants lineup with a curious mix of curves and fastballs that kept the Giants off-balance and guessing while the Phils clung to a 2-0 lead.

That's just the least of it. Not only did those curves and fastballs keep the Giants from scoring, they also kept the Giants from getting a single hit. During the five-inning stretch, Chen retired 15 of 18 -- including 13 straight -- and struck out three.

But in the sixth, the alarm clock sounded and that sweet slumber was halted. The dream became a nightmare.

All of a sudden that dancing curveball became as flat and languid -- it seemed as though the Giants were ready and waiting for everything Chen threw up there. Not only did Chen lose the no-hitter in that fateful sixth, ultimately the Giants snuck past the Phils for a 4-2 win.

	Bruce Chen waits as Barry Bonds works his way around the bases after a sixth inning homer.

Future Hall-of-Famer Barry Bonds belted a moon shot, two-run home run with one out off a hanging curve in the sixth to tie it at 2. After Bonds finished his geriatric-inspired trot around the bases, last season's MVP Jeff Kent belted a triple to deep center that was nearly snared by Doug Glanville. After Eric Davis drove Kent in with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2, Chen was able to escape.

An inning later, Chen gave up a two-out double to Shawon Dunston that scored former Phillie Bobby Estalella, who had singled with one out. That put a cap on the evening's scoring, but the damage had been done.

"He only really made one bad pitch and that was a hanging curve to a guy who doesn't miss hanging curves," manager Larry Bowa said about Chen's outing. "That's why he's over 500 home runs."

But after Chen's mastery of the Giants for the first five innings, things flipped like a switch. According to Bowa, "He lost it pretty quick."

But it doesn't help matters that he lost it to Bonds, who just so happens to be ripping homers at a very prolific clip. In 28 games, Bonds has ripped 14 long balls, 13 of which have come in the last 19 games. Of Bonds' 23 hits, 19 have been for extra bases.

"I've never seen him this home-run hot," Giants manager Dusty Baker said about Bonds.

Meanwhile, Bonds' blast was his 26th in the Vet, which ties him with Gary Carter for the most by an opponent.

What frustrates Chen the most was that he felt like he had good enough stuff to win, or at least get through seven innings. In six starts, the southpaw has worked into the seventh just once and part of that stems from his penchant for throwing a lot pitches. In 6 2/3 Friday, Chen tossed 102 pitches despite only allowing three balls to just two batters.

"The ball felt good coming out of my hand. I had good command and I felt good," Chen said. "I thought I did OK, I just made a mistake."

As for pitching to Bonds, Chen says proceed with extreme caution.

"You never know when he's going to hit one," Chen said. "He'll go stretches without hitting one and then he hits one. You have to pitch him carefully all the time."

	Larrys Brown and Bowa talk strategy before Friday night's game.

With the way Chen was pitching early on, and the two runs the Phils were able to get off Giants' starter Livan Hernandez, it looked like it was going to be the Phils night. Jimmy Rollins, batting in the leadoff position for the second straight game, ripped a home run on a 2-2 pitch to start the first. They added another run in the fourth when Scott Rolen leadoff with a single, moved to third on a single by Travis Lee and came around to score on a long sacrifice fly to center by Pat Burrell to make it 2-0.

But the team's failure to capitalize with runners in scoring position haunted them again.

In the second inning the Phils had Hernandez squirming after two straight walks to Mike Lieberthal and Lee with no outs. But the Cuban expatriate bore down and whiffed Burrell. He followed that by getting Marlon Anderson to pop out weakly to catcher Estalella and then got the weak-hitting Chen to ground out to short.

Hernandez, who entered the game with a 1-4 mark and a 7.83 ERA, pitched eight strong innings. Aside from the second and the fourth, he avoided trouble all night.

"He was dealing tonight, he got into some jams but kept pitching," Giants manager Dusty Baker said about his pitcher.

In the ninth, closer Robb Nen got into some trouble after Lee and Burrell singled and moved to second and third on right fielder Armando Rios' fielding error. But like Hernandez (2-4, 6.75), Nen bore down and blew away Anderson before getting pinch-hitter Kevin Jordan to line out to Bonds in left.

But as fate (that ever fickle mistress) would have it, the loss ended up being a double-bladed sword. A win would have moved the Phillies into a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in the National League. Instead, the club will have to settle for just the top spot in the NL East and a 16-12 record.

Saturday, the Phils and Giants play the middle game of a three-game set. Improving lefty Randy Wolf (1-4, 6.46) tosses for the Phils against Mark Gardner (0-3, 9.78).

Notes: Rollins' leadoff homer was the Phils first since Doug Glanville ripped one against Dwight Gooden and the Houston Astros April 8, 2000. ... Four times the Phillies have faced starters who have entered the game with ERAs over 7. They are 1-3 in those games. They will face their fifth such pitcher Saturday. ... Sixers head coach Larry Brown enjoyed the game from the 200 level while his next opponent in the NBA Playoffs was being decided.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com