Wolf Tosses Gem as Phils Sweep Astros for Sixth Win in a Row

Maybe all it took was baby steps for Philllies' lefthander Randy Wolf. If he could just get through the first inning unscathed, perhaps everything would be all right.

After all, Wolf said it seemed like his was thisclose from having decent outings but those first innings were simply driving him crazy.

That's because heading into Thursday night's series finale against the Houston Astros at the Vet, the southpaw had given up at least a run in the first inning in four of his five starts while 11 of the 21 runs he has allowed this season have come during the first stanza.

Yeah, the first inning had been pretty bad.

"I knew I had to turn it around," Wolf said. "I knew I hadn't done enough."

	Randy Wolf lowered his ERA from 7.09 to 5.88 with his two-hitter against the Astros Thursday night. (AP)

But it's all different following the 3-1 victory over the Astros. Not only was Wolf masterful during the first inning, Thursday night, he was equally as good in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Had it not been for Jeff Bagwell's solo shot with two outs in the seventh, this might have been a story about a one-hit shutout. Either way, thanks to Wolf's efficient and nearly dominating outing, the Phils notched their sixth straight win and second consecutive series sweep. It's almost as if the guys wearing the red and white pinstripes through a 9-18 April was a different team.

"He had good location with all of his pitches," catcher Mike Lieberthal said. "He was like (Tom) Glavine tonight."

Using a heavy-bottomed sinker and a roundhouse curve, Wolf teased the Astros for seven innings, allowing the lone run and two measly hits. During the early going, he had some thinking about a no-hitter as has he tore through the Astros' lineup like a football team through a paper-lined hoop. He retired the first 13 he faced and 19 of 20 until Bagwell's homer. Meanwhile, 18 of the first 19 hitters he faced were greeted with first pitch strikes.

With his 77 pitches (55 for strikes), Wolf made it look like he was simply playing catch with Lieberthal.

"It felt pretty easy back there," Lieberthal said.

For Wolf, the mental part was getting past the first inning. After that it was just a matter of sticking with the minor tweaking he made after looking at tapes of his last few outings. Despite the horrid statistics, the lefty knew he wasn't too far away from a performance like Thursday's

"Even though my numbers really, really sucked, I knew I wasn't too far off," he said.

That's probably the most frustrating part. Wolf knew he was so close to a great ballgame that he could touch it. He knew he could pinpoint every past error and every minor detail that cost him during the bad start that he could see it in his sleep. There was no way he could explain how he pitched prior to the win other than, "I just sucked."

"The most frustrating thing is that it's taken me this long to find it," Wolf said. "I've been feeling pretty good and my location hasn't been bad, I've just made some bad pitches at some bad times and it killed us. I knew I was really close."

To find it, Wolf watched lots of video and simply threw a bit more over the top than in his last few starts. Once he found his slot, it was smooth sailing.

"There were some adjustments I made by watching video,'' Wolf said. "I always battle with inconsistent mechanics.''

If Wolf and the Phils had to sweat anything out, it was trying to score runs against Dave Mlicki. The veteran right-hander nearly matched Wolf through seven innings until the Phils' hitters finally figured him out. But by solving the riddle, manager Larry Bowa had to take Wolf (2-1, 5.88) out of the game.

Lieberthal led off the seventh with a walk and moved up a base on Ricky Ledee's infield single off Mlicki's leg. That's when Bowa signaled Marlon Anderson to sacrifice the runners over with one caveat: If there are runners on first and second and one out, Wolf stays in the game.

Anderson got the bunt down, which meant Wolf was gone for pinch hitter Tomas Perez, who promptly smacked a double down the line in right to bring home two runs and seal the victory.

"I don't think I could have done what Tomas did," Wolf quipped.

Frankly, not many players could. For the second straight game, the Phils got the winning hit from a pinch hitter (Wednesday, Ledee hit a walk-off homer in the ninth). And for his third straight game, Perez got a clutch hit. But that's the way it's been all season for Bowa's favorite utility player.

Perez is hitting .348 (8-for-23) in 10 games but is 5 for his last 7. On top of it, his two pinch RBIs give the Phils 11, which is the best in the National League.

"The one thing I glad about is to see them get rewarded," Bowa said about his bench players. "Because they work hard."

Meanwhile, it appears that all the hard work is paying off for the entire team. At 15-19, the Phils are creeping back into the NL East picture and stand just four game behind the Florida Marlins. But even though the team just completed its first back-to-back series sweeps, Bowa isn't content.

"We still have a long way to go. We really dug ourselves a hole in April," Bowa said. "We found every way to lose now we have to find ways to win."

For winning six straight, the games just get tougher.

Next, the Phils host the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks for three games before heading on a six-game trip to Houston and Arizona. In the opener, Vicente Padilla (4-2, 2.87) faces Rick Helling (3-3, 6.75) in his first start against the team he broke in with. So far, Padilla clearly has been the team's best starter. He leads the team in wins and is the only starter with an ERA below 4.74. Plus, he's pitched six or more innings in each of his seven starts.

Last Sunday, the 24-year old Nicaraguan beat the Colorado Rockies despite complaining about a tight arm and giving up four runs and seven hits in six innings to give him victories in his last two starts.

Helling has had an up-and-down season thus far. He pitched six innings to beat the Expos, 5-2, during his last outing but took a rough, 10-1 loss in 2 1/3 against the Mets the time before. He's also received some strong run support with wins of 14-5, 9-8 and 11-5. In his seven starts, the Diamondbacks have averaged 7.71 runs per game.

Notes: The six-game winning streak is the team's longest since winning six straight last April 20 to 25. ... Perez is 4-for-8 with five RBI this season with runners in scoring position. ... Pat Burrell did not play. Bowa rewarded Wednesday's hero Ledee with a start.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com