Person Shuts Down 'Stros, 5-0

Robert Person's road gem hit close to home.

Trying to win one for ailing third base coach John Vukovich, Person fired a two-hitter for his second career shutout as the Phillies defeated the Houston Astros, 5-0.

	Robert Person throws one of his 111 pitches during his two-hit shutout.

The Phillies played without the 53-year-old Vukovich, who will undergo surgery Tuesday morning to remove a mass from his head. He has been bothered by constant headaches since spring training.

Person was shocked when he heard the news, especially after what he has experienced.

"Vuke is a big part of our team and not to have him here is unusual," Person said. "I lost my best friend to brain cancer and I'm praying that this is not to that degree.

"I hope they do the tests, operate on him, find out it's nothing and he'll be back soon. Vuke left us a message to go out and win one, and definitely, this team won the game for him."

Person became just the second player to throw a complete game shutout at Enron Field, which has been the site of only three shutouts in its two years.

"It was a tremendous game for Robert Person to throw a complete game in this ballpark against that offense," said Larry Bowa, who called the game his team's best of the year.

Although he walked four and hit a batter, Person (3-3) gave up just a single and a double while striking eight en route to his second career complete game.

His latest gem came at Enron Field, which has been nicknamed "Home Run Field" because of its propensity for allowing the long ball.

"The key here is to stay away from the big inning because any bloop hit can lead to a big inning," Person said. "You've got to keep guys off base, limit your mistakes and you've got to keep the ball down and inside."

Person gave the Phillies' bullpen a much-needed rest. The Phils used four relievers in Sunday's win over the Giants, and Bowa needed a strong effort from Person — and he tried to let his pitcher know it. But Person likes to hit, and he was aware of Enron's reputation.

"I told him last night, 'We need you to go deep tomorrow,'" Bowa said. "And he said, 'I know, it's a short fence in left.' And I said, 'No, no, I mean deep in the game.' He said, 'I know, I knew what you meant.' I said 'Yeah, OK.'"

Only Pete Harnisch had thrown a complete game shutout at Enron, giving up four hits in Cincinnati's 4-0 win last July 19. Minnesota had four pitchers combine on a shutout in a June 6 interleague game.

Person's only other complete game was a four-hit shutout in Montreal on May 10, 2000. He went 2-6 in his next 12 road starts before pitching the best game of his career in his first visit to Enron.

"Yes, I think it's my best game," said Person, who is 15-22 lifetime on the road. "I've only had one other shutout. I guess there's something about May."

Scott Rolen and Mike Lieberthal smacked back-to-back homers in the fifth inning for the Phillies, who have won five of seven to increase their lead atop the National League East to 4 1/2 games.

The Astros had their winning streak snapped at four games behind Kent Bottenfield (1-2), who gave up five runs and eight hits over five innings against his former team.

Philadelphia opened the scoring on Marlon Anderson's two-out RBI single in the second. Bottenfield started the inning by hitting Rolen with a pitch, prompting plate umpire Bill Miller to warn both benches.

Person had plunked Lance Berkman in the bottom of the first.

The Phillies made it 2-0 on rookie Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice fly in the third.

With Person cruising, the Phils padded their lead in the fifth. Bobby Abreu singled with two out and Rolen and Lieberthal followed with home runs for a 5-0 advantage.

It was the first time the Phillies hit back-to-back homers this season.

Bottenfield got Travis Lee to fly out to end the fifth but did not return for the sixth. Starting for the first time since April 13, he walked one and struck out three.

"I should've stayed within my game and not overthrown," said Bottenfield, who was 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in eight stars for the Phils last season. "That hurt me."

Person got stronger as the game progressed. After issuing a pair of walks in the fourth, he retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced.

"I couldn't see what he was throwing, but it didn't look overpowering," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "I kept thinking we were going to have a big inning. But the longer it went, the better he got and the worse we got."

Person did manage to impress Houston's best hitter — Jeff Bagwell.

"He was pretty much fastball, slider to me," said Bagwell, who went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .309. "He did a nice job of keeping a slider down and his fastball up. And when you're throwing 93, that will work."

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