Vina's Home Run Downs Phils, 3-1

  D. Glanville, P. Burrell, L. Bowa and A. Telemaco wanted to sweep the Cards, but ...

Amaury Telemaco flirted with trouble all day. And when he finally got hurt, the blow came from an unlikely source.

With the game tied at 1 in the seventh, Cardinals second baseman Fernando Vina belted a two-run home run to right to send the Phillies to a 3-1 defeat, breaking their three-game win streak. The home run was Vina's first of the year and first since July 23, 2000. He had only four last season.

"I just tried to get the good part of the bat on it," Vina said. "Telemaco pitched a great game. He threw me a slider that stayed up a bit."

Telemaco (4-1), coming off a tough start against the Brewers where he lasted only 1 1/3 innings, rebounded to pitch 6 2/3 innings, scattering 10 hits while walking one and striking out four.

''[That pitch] was right down the middle,'' Telemaco said of the home run ball. ``That lost the game right there. There are no excuses.''

The Phillies managed only five hits in seven innings off Cardinals starter Dustin Hermanson (5-1), who won his fourth straight. Jimmy Rollins-fan Steve Kline retired the first two Phils in the eighth and Dave Veres got the final four outs, including two strikeouts in the ninth, to record his fifth save.

``My job was to just hold them until we could score some runs,'' said Hermanson. ``We didn't want anyone sweeping us.''

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the second on a solo shot by Ray Lanford, his 11th homer of the year. The Phils tied it in their half of the second on Travis Lee's eighth homer of the season.

In the fourth, the Cardinals had runners on second and third after Luis Pujols singled and J.D. Drew doubled with two outs. Telemaco escaped when Edgar Renteria fouled out to Lee.

With runners on the corners and two gone in the fifth, Telemaco struck out Bobby Bonilla. Bonilla pinch-hit for Jim Edmonds, who left the game with soreness in his right knee.

Pujols led off the sixth with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Drew. But Telemaco again escaped, striking out Lankford and getting Renteria to ground out to Rollins.

The Phils threatened in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but Doug Glanville popped out to the catcher, Marrero, and his 15-game hitting streak came to an end.

Game Notes
On Pat Burrell Bobble-Head doll day, Burrell went 2-for-4 with a double. ... With the off day Monday, Larry Bowa chose to skip struggling starter Bruce Chen's turn in the rotaton. Chen warmed up in the bullpen Sunday afternoon. Randy Wolf will face Jason Schmidt Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series with the Pirates. ... In the third, Glanville grounded into a double play, his first of the season.

Andy Schwartz
ComcastSportsNet.com