Roadkill

Durazo's Three HRs and Nine RBIs Send Phils to Fifth Straight Loss

PHOENIX — These days, the Phillies are like a can of soda that's been shaken up all day and then placed into a paint mixer just for good measure. When that can is opened up, look out. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Take Larry Bowa for instance. A week's worth of frustration, anger, losses and blown leads manifested itself into a screaming and spewing fit of venom directed toward home plate umpire Tony Randazzo during Friday night's eighth inning. Yeah, Randazzo missed a few pitches and a play at the plate, but what was really bothering the Phils skipper was the fact that his team couldn't deliver its first win since Sunday.

	Larry Bowa tries to make a point with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo during Friday night's eighth inning. (AP)

That's why Bowa became that can of soda.

Of course Erubiel Durazo's three, two-run homers and nine RBIs had something to do with it too. So did Bowa's bullpen, which coughed up a 6-2 lead on the way to a 12-9 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark.

And then there are the 12 runners left on base with seven of them stranded in scoring position. Mix all of that with the fact that the Phillies scored a season-high in runs and hits (17) and still lost and a 0-5 road trip and it's easy to see why Bowa was spoiling for a fight with an umpire. Following Durazo's bases-loaded double in the eighth, which busted the game open like it was a cracked piņata, Bowa went to the mound to talk to pitcher Cliff Politte but actually didn't say a word. Instead, he was waiting for Randazzo, who he thought missed two close pitches that were called balls and not strike three.

When first base ump Bruce Froemming walked over, that was all Bowa needed to pick his fight. He got into it with Froemming and then turned all his rage on Randazzo before getting run.

Apparently Bowa got all his talking done there because he didn't talk to the media after the latest loss. It goes without saying that the mood around the Phils' clubhouse is pretty dour.

"It's bad," said Marlon Anderson, who had his third career five-hit game. "I think everybody knows how bad, but at the same time you've got to keep going out there and keep battling. Breaks aren't going our way. Hopefully, sooner or later the baseball gods will get on our side."

Durazo had gods and a chorus of angels on his side, Friday night. In just his second game back from missing the first 40 with an injured wrist suffered during spring training, Durazo has worn the Phillies out. He's 5-for-9 with 10 RBIs (two shy of Doug Glanville's total and he's played 40 games) and, conversely, four strikeouts.

But it's Friday night's home runs that have everyone talking about "Ruby." He's also made manager Bob Brenly look like a genius by handing him the first baseman's job occupied by Mark Grace and plunking him right into the cleanup spot in the order.

"I hit the ball pretty good today," Durazo understated.

"I was trying to hit the ball. That's it. I don't want to try to hit home runs," Durazo added. "I did that yesterday and wasn't feeling that good. Today I was trying to hit the ball and drive it, that's it."

It was the most RBIs in one game since Boston's Nomar Garciaparra knocked in 10 runs with two grand slams and a two-run shot against Seattle on May 10, 1999, at Fenway Park.

For Durazo, it was his first three-homer game at any level, he says.

"He fouled that one ball off his ankle earlier and I told him 'If you're ankle's going to be swelled up, you might as well keep hitting home runs,'" said teammate Luis Gonzalez, who was on base for all of Durazo's big hits. "I guess he took it to heart. He had a great night. Nine RBIs. That's unbelievable."

X-rays of the ankle after the game were negative and Durazo is expected to be wreaking havoc on Saturday night.

Durazo's first two homers came off starter Terry Adams in the first and sixth innings. The third, off reliever Rheal Cormier (1-4, 8.44) in the seventh, gave Arizona its first lead, 9-7.

In just two games, Durazo already is in a groove.

	Larry Bowa is held away from Bruce Froemming by Phils' bench coach, Gary Varsho. (AP)

"He hit some monster blasts," Gonzalez said.

Durazo struck out his first three at-bats Thursday, but since then has two doubles and three homers in six plate appearances. He finished 4-for-5 Friday night.

"Last night we saw Ruby being a little too overanxious, swinging too hard, trying to hit pitches that really couldn't be hit," Brenly said. "Tonight he was much more relaxed, laid off some pitches and you know, when he got something to hit, he didn't miss it."

"I felt like I got locked in my last at-bat yesterday and obviously I was pretty locked in today," said Durazo, who hit .535 with six homers in 43 at bats in spring training before his injury. "I want to come back like I was in spring training. The only thing I want to do is see the ball and hit the ball."

Early, it appeared as if the Phils couldn't miss. Jimmy Rollins hit the game's second pitch from Miguel Batista for a home run just a day after hitting the game's first pitch for a homer. A single by Anderson, a walk for Scott Rolen and a two-run double by Bobby Abreu followed.

They added another run in the third when Anderson led off with a double, moved to third on Rolen's fly ball to right and scored on Abreu's sacrifice fly and another an inning later when Rollins picked up an RBI single.

Abreu started the fifth with a triple and scored on a one-out single by Travis Lee to make it 6-2. It was nearly 7-2 after Adams singled with two outs and Lee tried to score from second. Steve Finley's throw from center beat Lee to the plate but catcher Rod Barajas' tag didn't as replays showed the first baseman slide around and beneath the late tag. However, Randazzo called Lee out and Bowa stewed.

Shortly after the hit, Adams ran out of gas and was pulled after Durazo's second shot. That's when the bullpen came in and started throwing target practice. The trio of Carlos Silva, Hector Mercado and Jose Santiago dodged the bullets by allowing just two hits through an inning, while Burrell's line shot over the center field fence made it 7-5. But once Cormier came in, things took a turn for the worse.

The lefty reliever gave up four straight hits to start the seventh, including an RBI triple to Junior Spivey and single to Gonzalez, before serving up Durazo's third blast.

Cliff Politte looked as if he was going to avoid the one-man wrecking crew by retiring the first two batters he faced, but Anderson booted a grounder hit by Craig Counsell. Politte then plunked Spivey and walked Gonzalez to bring up you-know-who did you-know-what.

"Durazo was incredible," Rollins said. "Without him in the lineup we would have had a chance. He really delivered."

In just two games, Durazo already is in a groove.

	Jimmy Rollins reacts after touching the plate following his second leadoff homer in as many days. (AP)

If they had brought in some runs, perhaps Durazo's heroics would have just been fodder for the stat sheet. The team hit a much-improved 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position, but had four runners in scoring position with less than two outs and didn't bring them in. With two outs, the Phils had eight chances to drive in a runner in scoring position but failed. Scott Rolen even came up as the tying run in the ninth against Byung-Hyun Kim but fanned with runners on first and second.

Not fun.

Saturday, the Phils jump out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire when they face former ace Curt Schilling (8-1, 2.86). The big, workhorse righty faced his former team twice last season and was 0-1, however, he struck out 11 in seven innings in a win against Pittsburgh last Monday to win his fifth straight start.

The Phils counter with Brandon Duckworth (2-3, 5.14), who started the nasty 17-3 loss in Houston last Monday. During that debacle, the young right-hander lasted four innings and gave up five runs and six hits.

Notes: Former Phil Eddie Oropesa worked the seventh and earned his second win of the season. ... Kim notched his 12th save. ... The ejection was Bowa's first this season. He was tossed from five last season and one in spring training. ... The previous Diamondbacks record for RBIs in a game was six, done four times. The last was by Gonzalez on June 19, 2001, against Los Angeles. Finley had six RBIs twice in 1999. ... The record for consecutive leadoff home runs is four, set by Brady Anderson of Baltimore in 1996. Rollins is halfway there and now has five leadoff homers in his career. ... Bowa used the same five relievers, in the same order, Thursday and Friday. ... Before the game, there was a moment of silence for Joe Black, the former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who died of cancer Friday. He was the 1952 Rookie of the Year and the first black pitcher to win a World Series game. Black, 78, worked in community relations for the Diamondbacks in recent years.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com