Phils Celebrate Phanatic's B-Day with 10-8 Victory over Giants

  Doug Glanville and Jimmy Rollins on the 9-run, 2nd inning explosion.

Maybe that Curt Schilling trade will work out after all.

Omar Daal, who won four games all of last season, improved to 4-0 and had two hits in a nine-run second inning which was just enough for the Phillies to beat the Giants, 10-8 Sunday afternoon.

"The team, right now, every time I go, we score a lot of runs," said Daal, who was a victimized by a lack of run support after being acquired in the Schilling deal last season. "Before when I got here, sometimes we didn't score many runs, and sometimes you don't want to make a mistake because you can lose the game. But this year, every time I go out there, when the other team scores some runs, I know my team is going to score some runs too."

Doug Glanville got the Phils on the board in the first inning with a solo shot to left, his fourth homer of the season. With two outs, Giants starter Kirk Rueter walked the bases loaded but escaped further damage when Kevin Jordan lined out to center.

However, Rueter wasn't so lucky in the second. The Giants had gone ahead 2-1 in the top of the inning on a wind-blown, sun-blocked triple by Rich Aurilia that Pat Burrell couldn't come up with and a sac-fly by Armando Rios.

The lead didn't last long. After Marlon Anderson led off with a cue-shot double to left, Daal faked a sac-bunt and lined a single to left. Jimmy Rollins lined a single to right to tie the game at 2.

	Armando Rios prevents Jimmy Rollins from turning the double play. Rich Aurilia scored the Giants' 8th run on the play.

Rueter then walked Glanville to load the bases, and this time he paid for it. Bobby Abreu drilled a bases-clearing double that one-hopped the wall in left, giving the Phils a 5-2 lead.

"It made me feel that I helped the team a little bit more, and it made me feel more comfortable," Abreu said of his double. "We just [have to] keep doing things this way so we can win more games."

But the Phils weren't done. Abreu scored when Scott Rolen rolled one under the glove of second baseman Ramon Martinez — the Giants' league-leading 31st error of the season. Lieberthal followed with a single to end Rueter's misery.

But the Phils still weren't done. Chad Zerbe came in and immediately advanced both runners with a wild pitch. Two batters later, Kevin Jordan doubled home both Lieberthal and Rolen.

But the Phils still weren't done. Daal singled home Jordan, scored on a triple by Rollins, and took the mound in the top of the third ahead 10-2. Daal improved to 4-for-14 on the season.

"This is the National League and you have to bat," he said. "If the pitcher can be a good hitter, you extend the game longer, you don't need a pinch hitter."

"He takes a lot of pride in his hitting; he works on it," Larry Bowa said.

The nine runs are the most the Phillies have scored in an inning since they had an 11-run eighth inning against the Brewers in September, 1999.

"Anytime you get 10, that's a breakout," said Bowa, who has been tinkering constantly with his lineup in search of offense. "I wish we had a couple more like that."

As it turned out, the Phils would need almost every one of those runs.

Daal pitched two more scoreless innings before San Francisco scored three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth on a solo homer by Aurilia that made it 10-6. Daal left the game after allowing a single to Rios and balking him to second. Wayne Gomes came in and, in between strikeouts, allowed a single and a walk to load the bases before striking out Eric Davis on a back-door curve to end the inning.

San Francisco chipped away some more in the seventh. With one out, Gomes allowed back-to-back singles to Benito Santiago and Aurilia and was relieved by Eddie Oropesa. Santiago scored on an RBI single by Rios, who then did a good job to break up a double play allowing Aurilia to score on a groundout by Pedro Felix, cutting the Phils' lead to 10-8.

With one on and one out in the top of the eighth, Ricky Bottalico fell behind pinch-hitter Barry Bonds 2-0 but recovered to throw two fastballs by him and paint the outside corner for the strikeout. Bottalico fell behind Jeff Kent 2-0 as well but again rebounded to get the strikeout, whiffing Kent with a sharp hook.

"I've faced [Bonds] a ton of times, and it was just one of those things where you have to reach back for a little bit more in that situation. That's what happened and fortunately I got an out," Bottalico said.

After walking Santiago to lead off the ninth, Jose Mesa retired the Giants in order to record his eighth save.

Andy Schwartz
ComcastSportsNet.com