Home Cookin'

Phils Beat Mets For Another Win at The Vet

If someone only watched the Phillies when they played on the road and compared what he saw with someone who only watched the Phillies when they played at The Vet, those two would be probably be ready for a padded room and a straightjacket. The conversation between the two would be crazier yet.

"It would be a form of paranoid schizophrenia," Doug Glanville offered. "I hope the fans in here aren't catching us on the road."

	Scott Rolen tags Roger Cedeno in the second inning to keep a run from scoring during the Phils win, Wednesday night. (AP)

If there is any way to explain why a team can be so good when it's playing at home yet be so bad when it hits the road, please, let manager Larry Bowa know. He just can't figure it out how this little quirk where the Phils win nearly every time they lace them up at home and go down in a burning heap on the road has become the riddle of the 2002 baseball season.

Yes, the Phillies won another game at home, Wednesday night. They beat the NL East-leading New York Mets, 5-2. In doing so, the team has won three in a row at The Vet and 10 out of its last 11 within the friendly confines of the big concrete bowl. A National League-best 16-8 at home, the Phils are a Major League-worst 4-18 on the road, a fact that has Bowa scratching his head.

"I haven't figured it out," the Phils skipper said. "If anybody has, let me know."

Glanville, who threw out a runner at third and smacked an RBI double in the second inning, suggests the Phils take some type of Veterans Stadium talisman — like a piece of the turf or Bobby Abreu's luxury recliner — on the road. As the team's player rep, Glanville is in charge or all hocus-pocus and curse remedies and is open to any suggestion.

"We need some home cookin'," Glanville said. "I'll consider all reasonable ideas."

Regardless of the road woes and an April that set a franchise record for most losses (18), Glanville says no hope is lost for the Phillies. At 20-26, the team is just four games behind the first-place Mets.

"We can't get crazy," he said. "We're still right there. As the home team, we're tough."

That was proven Wednesday night.

The Phillies put four, quick runs on the board during the first two innings against ace Al Leiter, no less, and starter Terry Adams pitched six solid innings to earn his second win as the team cruised.

Hector Mercado and Ricky Bottalico each pitched a scoreless inning to set it up for Jose Mesa who faced four batters for his 14th save.

However, the key was getting to Leiter early. With a league leading 1.74 ERA heading into Wednesday night's tilt, the veteran lefty posed many problems against a topsy-turvy team like the Phils. Two runs with two outs in the first and two more in the second solves a lot of problems.

"He's a guy that if you get to him early, it's key," said catcher Mike Lieberthal, who was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. "He definitely gets stronger as the game goes on."

Scott Rolen and Abreu stroked two-out singles and came around to score on Pat Burrell's double to left to make it 2-0 and Lieberthal and Glanville started the second with back-to-back doubles. Glanville knocked in Lieberthal with his two-bagger and scored two batters later on Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice fly to right.

Meanwhile, the team's defense helped ward off an early threat and a late one, as well. With two outs and runners on first and second in the second, Glanville scooped up Rey Ordonez's single in center and gunned down Jay Payton trying to go from first to third. The throw not only ended the inning but it erased a run because Jeromy Burnitz couldn't make it to the plate from second before Payton was tagged out at third.

"That was huge," Bowa said of Glanville's throw.

A play by Abreu in the seventh was even bigger. Mo Vaughn belted a one-hop single to right with two outs and leadoff man Roger Cedeno on second. Abreu charged the liner, came up throwing and beat Cedeno to the plate by three steps to end the inning and leave Mike Piazza standing there on deck.

The play ended things for the Mets.

"I was preparing myself to throw home as soon as it was hit because I knew they wanted a rally," Abreu said.

Clutch hits and big throws aside, the Phils' Adams allowed just one earned run — a homer by Edgardo Alfonzo — during his six innings. He also limited the damage the Mets' powerful lineup could envoke by keeping Alomar, Vaughn and Piazza out of clutch situations. Three times Vaughn batted with two outs and another he grounded into a double play while Piazza led off four innings and went 1-for-4 with a harmless single.

But, Adams has failed to pitch into the seventh in all of his nine starts as a Phillie. That's something Lieberthal and Bowa don't see changing quickly.

"I don't think he's ready to go past where he is," Bowa said of the converted reliever who has just 31 big leagues starts under his belt after six years as a reliever. "When he gets tired he leaves it up in the zone like he did in the sixth."

The sixth is where Edgardo Alfonzo hit a solo homer and Jay Payton collected one of his three hits as Adams scattered nine of them.

"I was not walking anybody," Adams said. "That was huge. I just stuck to what I do best, and that is let them put the ball in play and get ground balls."

Lieberthal says the 29-year old veteran is going to have to lift himself over the hump.

"It's one of those things where he has to go out there and do it to get it off his back," Lieberthal said of Adams' inability to pitch past six innings. "In the sixth, his curve ball started to flatten out."

Adams has no explanation either, saying he doesn't feel tired and the velocity of his pitches are faster than last year. To that degree, he doesn't think it's that much of a big deal either.

"It's not frustrating because we're trying to win ball games," he said. "I don't try to save anything for later. I let it all hang out when I pitch and throw as hard as I can."

Now, if he had an answer how the team could play as well on the road as it does on the road...

"Maybe we have to roll up the turf here and take it with us on the road," Glanville mused.

	Doug Glanville went 1-for-3 with a double and RBI and threw Roger Cedeno out at third during the second inning during the Phils third straight win. (AP)

Either way, Bowa wants the riddle solved quickly.

"The thing that stands out in my mind between the two teams (home and away) is the relief pitching at home is much better than on the road," Bowa said. "I don't know, maybe it is because our starters go deeper here. I don't know, I don't have the answer."

The Phils and Mets finish the three-game set with a mid-afternoon tilt on Thursday. Brandon Duckworth (2-3, 5.14) faces Steve Tachsel (2-4, 3.71) in the young righty's first outing since last Saturday's loss in Arizona.

In that game, Duckworth carried a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning but lost it when he surrendered a two-out, solo homer to Erubiel Durazo. Duckworth hasn't won a game since beating the Rockies on May 3 but rates third in the Majors with 11 strikeouts per nine innings.

Trachsel beat the Padres last Friday, allowing seven hits and three runs in a seven-inning effort. Last season against the Phillies, Trachsel went 4-0 with a 2.43 in four starts. In 29 2/3 innings, he gave up 23 hits and just eight earned runs.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com