Vina's Home Run Downs Phils, 3-1

  Jimmy Rollins talks with Pete Christy about trying for the cycle.

Imagine this one: you’re at work and a friend calls up and asks you if you want to see Philadelphia play the Bucs? Thinking like everyone else in this area is, you immediately assume you are getting in to see the sold-out Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and the “Bucks” are from Milwaukee.

Later, you get to South Philly only to realize those “Bucs” are from Pittsburgh and they aren’t battling the hometown team for a chance to get in the championship round, they’re just stinking up the NL Central.

Regardless, the Philadelphia Phillies handled the Bucs, 6-5, Wednesday night in the Vet while their basketball brethren struggled against the other Bucks across the street in the First Union Center. In all, it was par for the course.

But for those 12,287 folks who weren’t lucky enough to get a seat at the First Union Center and ended up sitting amongst the empty blue seats in the Vet, they got to watch a pretty decent ballgame. If you’re a Phillies fan, that is.

Thanks to a four-run, six-hit sixth inning and a no out, RBI single by Bobby Abreu an inning later, the scrappy Phils were able to overcome a 5-1 deficit to earn the hard-fought victory. Meanwhile, sparkplug shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 4-for-4 with a homer, triple and two singles to cap off an 8-for-12 series.

The win gives the Phillies a sweep of the series against Pittsburgh and is their sixth win in their last seven. At 28-17, the team is 6 ½ games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and seven up on the third-place Florida Marlins. To find the last time the Phillies were in first place this late in the season (so what if it’s only May) one would have to flip back in the archives to June 1995.

	Jimmy Rollins slides in with a third-inning triple in the Phils' 6-5 win over the Pirates.

But if you’re thinking it was just another easy night at the yard for the Phillies against another woebegone ball club, guess again.

Pittsburgh jumped on the Phillies in the second when Brian Giles belted a long homer to the seats in right off starter Robert Person. They added two more in the third on a two-on, one-out double by John Vander Wal and a sacrifice fly by Aramis Ramirez.

It stayed 3-1 until the sixth when the Bucs tacked on two more thanks to a triple by Giles a run-scoring groundout by Rob Mackowiak and an RBI single by Pat Meares.

Even down 5-1, the Phillies had the answers.

Rollins led off the sixth with the homer of the backdrop in left-center and Abreu followed it up with a double to deep right-center. Scott Rolen then beat out an infield single to chase starter Jimmy Anderson and give the Phils first and third with no outs. Pat Burrell greeted reliever Josias Manzanillo with an RBI single and two batters later, Johnny Estrada chased Manzanillo with an RBI single of his own.

Scott Sauerbeck relieved Manzanillo and allowed Abreu’s game-winning single which scored Brian Hunter who led off the seventh with a walk.

For the Phillies, Rollins has been the guy carrying the big stick. The rookie who "Some say I’m 20, others 12 and a few others 6," raised his average 32 points during the set with Pittsburgh (he’s at .287 now) by going 9-for-13. Thursday was the first time in his career that he's lashed out four hits and he was fully aware that he could have had the cycle with a double in his last at bat.

"I went for it. If I hit would have hit one in the gap, I would have tried for it," Rollins said with a smile afterwards. "But against Sauerbeck, I knew it was going to be tough. I’m happy with the 4-for-4."

The sixth inning homer was the kid’s fifth of the season and second in as many games. When asked if he thought about the odd fact that he has more home runs than both Rolen and Burrell, the rookie was philosophical.

"I don’t think about it," he said of his longball prowess. "Those things happen in cycles. They’ll get theirs."

But as for his hot streak, Rollins says he's just benefitting from his circumstance.

"I am just getting a lot of fastballs to hit and have not been missing them," he said. "That is the bottom line. They have been able to find a couple of holes. Just getting pitches and not missing it, and hopefully finding holes. That is the key."

In what is becoming something of a broken record this season, the bullpen slammed the door over the last three innings to help the Phillies get theirs. After a rocky, but gutty six-inning stint by Person, Chris Brock, Rheal Cormier, Ricky Bottalico and Jose Mesa gave up just a hit and whiffed three.

"Person wasn’t as sharp as he’s been, but the bullpen got it done," Bowa said.

Person, on the other hand, had to battle from the second inning on.

Despite nine strikeouts and no walks over his six innings, Person was hittable. The Bucs pounded out seven hits for five runs and had a runner on base during every inning but the first. The pitcher struggled with his fastball, which stayed up in the zone most of the night, but was able to use his curve to get out of jams. In the sixth inning, he was faced with runners on first and third and one out with the Bucs looking to put the game out of reach. Instead of folding up the tent, the right-hander used a two-seam fastball to whiff Kevin Young and then used a nasty hook on the inside corner to punch out Abraham Nunez.

Still, down 5-1 with the other team trying to avoid a sweep is a fairly precarious position. Faced with such a predicament, Person says the Phillies knew they would come through.

"If we keep it close, anything can happen. Especially since were swinging hot," the pitcher said.

But it’s the team’s confidence that has amazed everyone. Last season there was no way the Phillies would have won a game like this one. This year, it wasn’t a matter of could the team would comeback, it was a matter of when it would occur.

"The whole game, guys are talking and picking each other up," Person said. "We’re just confident that we’re not going to lose –- we aren’t going to quit. If one person is having a bad game, someone else will come through. That’s the way it’s been all year."

Friday the Phillies send Amaury Telemaco (4-1, 4.75) to the mound against the Montreal Expos' Javier Vazquez (4-5, 4.68) as the divisional foes begin a three-game set at the Vet to wrap up the team’s longest homestand of the season. In Saturday’s game, Paul Byrd makes his season debut after recovering from shoulder surgery.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com