Burrell Hits Another to Lead Phils Past Mets, 7-3

NEW YORK — The last thing the Mets wanted to see coming into Shea at this point of the season were the Phillies. At 22-29 and a solid 10 games out heading into Tuesday night's game, the Mets are trying to save their season and it would seem that playing the NL East leading Phils would be a great chance for the Mets to try and make some headway in the division.

But when the Phillies come to town that means Pat Burrell. And for the Mets, Pat Burrell means Trouble — with a capital "T". Better, for the Mets, Burrell's arrival means "duck." In the future, in might mean "intentional walk."

For the second game in a row, the Phils slugger belted an eighth inning home run to ensure the victory. In Tuesday's 7-3 win at Shea Stadium, Burrell's three-run bomb off reliever Turk Wendell landed in the parking lot past the Phils' bullpen in deep left to turn a one run game into a rout. But for Burrell, the blast comes one day after pounding a game-winning, 10th inning homer off closer Armando Benitez — his third in as many at-bats off the pitcher.

	Pat Burrell slides into home on an RBI single by Johnny Estrada in the fourth inning.

For Burrell and the Mets, however, it goes much deeper than some long home runs in some tight games off a lights-out closer. In his short career, Burrell has owned the New Yorkers. He has six homers, 16 RBIs and a .377 ERA in 11 games. But under the media microscope in New York City, he has five homers and 10 RBIs.

The highlights at Shea include homers on consecutive days last June off Benitez, which came just a month into his Major League career. The first tied the score in the ninth as the Phillies won 3-2 in 10 innings. The second was a grand slam to break it open in a 10-5 win.

"I just really like to play here," Burrell said stating the obvious. "I don't know if I have another place I'd rather play. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the atmosphere, the fans or the fact that these guys are defending National League Champions. Whatever it is, I just really enjoy the competition."

But as if the late inning heroics against the Mets weren't enough, Burrell extended his hitting streak to 10 games as the Phils locked up their 10th win in the last 13 games, and eighth in their last nine to push their record to 32-18 and their lead over the division to 6 1/2.

For a while, however, it looked like the Mets were going to swat the upstart Phillies into the rainy, New York night. They jumped out to a quick, 1-0 lead thanks to a leadoff triple by Benny Agbayani in the first. Mike Piazza's ground out drove him in. The slugging catcher wasn't finished with that RBI, either.

Trailing 3-1, the Mets' catcher came up in the sixth with two outs and one on only to lift a lazy, pop-up into foul territory behind first. Second baseman Marlon Anderson seemed to have a bead on it until either a strong gust or a passing plane from nearby LaGuardia Airport blew the ball an inch from where Anderson had it sized up. Instead of making the catch to end the inning, the second baseman had the ball bounce out of his glove to give Piazza a second chance.

In giving Piazza another shot, one could almost see it coming. It was just a manner of picking which fence he was going to hit it over.

Two pitches from starter Omar Daal later, Piazza sent a high, lazy shot over the 410 sign in center to make it 3-3 and put the Phils back on their heels.

"You give a hot hitter like Mike Piazza two at-bats, and he'll take advantage of it," manager Larry Bowa said. "That's why he's a great hitter.

"We were down when we gave them the extra out," he added. "The dugout was quiet. But it's going to happen. People make mistakes. You just have to work your way through it."

But another comeback on another day doesn't send this Phillies team running for cover. It seems these guys thrive on these types of situations.

After falling behind 1-0, the Phils came back and opened up a lead in the fourth thanks to a lead-off double by Bobby Abreu, an RBI double by Burrell and a run-scoring single by Johnny Estrada to make it 2-1. Abreu got things started two innings later with a leadoff walk. He moved to third on a single by Scott Rolen and then scored on a long sacrifice fly by Travis Lee to center.

Dennis Cook (1-1, 4.50) relieved to start the eighth and allowed — get this — a leadoff single to Abreu. Rolen doubled to left and Abreu scored his third run of the game when Agbayani mishandled the ball in the corner.

Wendell came in after Cook walked Travis Lee and allowed Burrell's sixth homer of the season.

Meanwhile, the Phillies won for the 10th time in Daal's 11 starts although the 6-0 lefty didn't figure in Tuesday night's decision. Aside from Piazza's homer, Daal was very efficient. He threw 95 pitches in six innings, but allowed just five hits and walked two. With the way the team has been playing behind Daal, it's a wonder how he went 4-19 last season.

But maybe that just typifies this year's Phillies team where a good effort will not go to waste.

Of course, a good bullpen doesn't hurt either.

After Daal, the bullpen — Wayne Gomes (4-1, 3.45), Ricky Bottalico and Chris Brock — pitched three perfect innings to close it out and hand the Mets their third loss in the last four.

For the Mets, Kevin Appier had the Phillies' batters off-balance for most of the night, allowing three runs and four hits over seven innings. He struck out seven, walked two and hit two batters — both in the second inning. But Appier wasn't so lucky when he turned it over to the bullpen.

While the bullpen has been part of the reason why the Phils have jumped out to such a big lead in the division, pacing the way with a league-leading 13 wins and the league's second best ERA (3.39), the Mets' 'pen has been mediocre at best. A catalyst in getting them to the World Series last year, the Mets relievers this season is just 7-6 with a 4.22 ERA. It's best reliever, Wendell, was no match for Burrell in the big win.

Wednesday, the Phils and Mets finish the three-game set with a mid-afternoon matinee. Robert Person (4-4, 3.80) will face Rick Reed (5-2, 2.53) as the Mets try to salvage a game and get to within 10 games of the Phils. Immediately after the game at Shea, the Phillies will fly to Montreal for a four-game set with the Expos before returning to the Vet June 5 for a three-game homestand against the Mets again.

Notes: Burrell has homered three straight days and in three of his last four games. ... Piazza has homered in three straight games, including a game-tying shot in the ninth inning Monday. ... Rolen hit his 17th double of the season in the game. He is second in the NL with 17 doubles, one behind Todd Helton. ... Mets 2B Edgardo Alfonzo left the game with a sore back. ... Indy 500 winner Helios Castroneves of Brazil threw out the first pitch. ... The Mets scored just their 10th first-inning run of the season.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com