Workhorse Wolf Battles for Gutsy Win Over Giants

Randy Wolf is the walking, talking and breathing embodiment of the phrase, "Whatever doesn't kill me just makes me stronger." That being the case, Wolf looks downright Herculean after Saturday night's gutsy, 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the Vet.

The Phils lefthander battled through seven innings in which he walked six, hit a batter, gave up seven hits. There were two runners on base during six of his seven innings, he was faced with five full-counts and had three balls on a total of eight hitters. All told, he threw, gasp, 134 pitches.

But for some reason and despite all of the opportunities, the Giants couldn't put the Phillies away. They got two runs total -- one on a leadoff homer by Rich Aurilia in the third and another on a two out RBI single by Benito Santiago ("That was a bad pitch to Santiago," Phils manager Larry Bowa said. "It was his only bad pitch. His control wasn't there, but he battled.") -- but hit just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

	Scott Rolen drove in the game-winning runs with a double in the seventh.

Meanwhile, Wolf struck out 10 -- including Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent twice apiece -- and got the important out to dodge bullet after bullet, inning after inning.

"My command wasn't where I wanted it to be, but I knew if I kept them to one or two runs, we'd have a chance," the southpaw said. "There were some innings I easily could have given up six runs."

But later Wolf (2-4, 5.58) was more succinct when describing his outing.

"It was either the gutsiest or the luckiest [I've ever been]," he said.

No argument here.

If that wasn't enough, it wouldn't seem apropos if Wolf didn't have some minor controversy during his outing. After giving up the homer to the power-alley in left to Aurilia, Wolf's second pitch to Bonds plunked the future hall-of-famer on his left hand. As dictated by a new edict from the commissioner's office, home plate umpire Chris Guccione issued a warning to Wolf and the Phillies bench.

"It wasn't intentional," Wolf said. "As you could tell, my control wasn't what it was supposed to be. I was trying to go outside with that pitch and my shoulder flew open and it got away from me. I'm just glad he didn't get hurt."

Bowa thought it was obvious that Wolf wasn't trying to hit Bonds, who hit his 14th homer of the season Friday night against the Phillies. If Wolf wanted to hit Bonds, Bowa reasoned, he wouldn't have waited a pitch.

"Maybe it's old-school, but if you're going to hit a guy, you don't wait," the Phils skipper said.

But when it really mattered, the Giants could get anything on the ball against Wolf. Defying logic, the lefty got stronger as he got into more trouble. In the second, with runners on first and second and one out, he got Mark Gardner to pop out weakly to Travis Lee at first and then struck out Marvin Bernard. An inning later, he gave up the homer, hit Bonds and was faced with another first and second with one out. This time he got Russ Davis to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.

Having weathered that storm, Wolf retired eight of the last 10 he faced, including the last four of six on strikeouts.

But while Wolf was dodging bullets, Giants starter Gardner was slamming the door on any kind of offense for the Phillies. In six innings of work, Gardner gave up just two hits and just a token threat of a rally.

Ironically (or coincidentally?), Gardner is the sixth pitcher to enter a game against the Phils with an ERA above 7 and he's the third straight (San Diego's Kevin Jarvis and Giants Livan Hernandez) to shut the Phillies down. After watching Gardner mow down his club, Bowa is hinting at ignoring all future scouting reports.

"The reports say, 'This guys having trouble here or there,' but they pitch good against us," the manager said. "I keep getting deceived by these ERAs."

But inexplicably, after not giving up a hit for his final three innings and retiring eight of the last 10 he faced, Giants' skipper Dusty Baker pulled Gardner.

"Our bullpen was fresh and ready to go," Baker said. "I didn't want him to go over 90 pitches. He was up to 86 and I thought it was enough."

Perhaps enough to open the floodgates, at least for one inning.

Before it was nearly too late, the Phillies slumbering bats awoke to greet reliever Aaron Fultz in the seventh with some serious tattooing.

Marlon Anderson led off the inning against reliever Fultz (2-1, 7.98) with a bunt single, and pinch-hitter Brian Hunter walked. After Jimmy Rollins sacrificed the runners, Doug Glanville delivered an RBI single.

Bobby Abreu then lifted a fly to shallow left that challenged Bonds' fielding prowess and speed merchant Hunter's wheels. Maybe because his hand still hurt or, most probably, because of Hunter's speed, Bonds' throw was way off the mark and it was tied at 2.

Fultz was replaced by Tim Worrell, whose first pitch was ripped by Scott Rolen into the left-field corner, scoring Glanville and giving the Phillies a 3-2 lead. Mike Lieberthal followed with an RBI single to center that made it 4-2.

Rolen, meanwhile, seems to have snapped out of his early season funk that saw his batting average test the Mendoza Line. Against the Giants, the Gold Glover is 4-for-8 with 2 RBIs. Even when he was retired, his stroke was mellifluous and hit the ball hard.

Once the Phils got the lead and Wolf left, it was light's out. Ricky Bottalico pitched a perfect eighth to set it up for Jose Mesa who pitched to four batters in the ninth for his seventh save.

The win pushed the Phils to 17-12 and a half game behind the Chicago Cubs for the best record in the National League. The win also keeps the Phillies four games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

Sunday afternoon, the Phils send ace Omar Daal (3-0, 3.13) to the mound against struggling Kirk Reuter (3-2, 6.89) in the series finale. The NL East-leading Phils head to Houston after Sunday's tilt for three with the Astros before heading to Phoenix for three more with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Notes: The Phillies are 15-0 when leading after eight innings. ... Wolf's 10 strikeouts are the Phillies' season-high. His 134 pitches are also a season-high for a Phils pitcher. ... Travis Lee walked three times and now has 23 this season. However, Bowa said he will rest Lee Sunday and give Kevin Jordan the start at first base.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com