Phillies Sweep Mets; Extend Lead in East to 7½

  Marlon Anderson talks about the Phillies recent hot streak.

NEW YORK — Next.

Heading into Shea for a three-game set with the defending National League champions, the first-place Phillies were hoping to show the largest media market in the free world that, yes, this team is legit. Maybe if they played the Mets tough and eeked out a couple of wins, people would finally begin to realize that they are, indeed, for real.

After all, there were stories written by a few of the newspapers here in New York that the Phillies didn't belong atop the NL East, and they certainly weren't as good as their NL-best record indicated. It was just a matter of time before the team that lost 97 games a season ago would resurface and this early-season charade would be halted dead in its tracks, so they wrote.

	The Phillies are pretty excited about their sweep of the Mets.

Now, after a 6-3 win at Shea to complete a solid, in-your-face sweep of the defending champs, maybe this team will get some respect. Or, maybe they'll have to go to a different city because the Mets clearly didn't have any answers for the Phillies.

Surely, before the series began, things looked pretty good for the Mets. They had just put together a string where they won six of their last eight and with three good pitchers going — Al Leiter, Kevin Appier and Rick Reed — it was feasible that the Mets could hop back into the race.

But then again, these Phillies came to New York with something to prove. They also sent the 22-31 Mets back to the drawing board, scratching their heads and wondering what they can do next.

"It's frustrating because it seems like it's a step forward and two back with us," Piazza said. "It's not early anymore."

For the Phillies, the win improves the club's record to 33-18 and, coupled with a Braves loss to the Montreal Expos, pushes the lead in the division to 7 1/2 games. It also marks the team's first three-game sweep of the Mets in Shea since September 1979 — manager Larry Bowa probably remembers that one well.

But what is more important to the skipper is this club in 2001. The sweep against the Mets is the fourth one this season. They opened the season with three straight over the Marlins, and last week, they handled the Pirates. In between, of course, they swept the Braves. So already the Phillies have shown the East they mean business; they're in this one for the long haul.

"They haven't quit, not one game," Bowa said. "They beat a good team, a team that went to the World Series. That has to help their confidence."

It took a long haul to pull out Wednesday's daytime affair. Not only did the Phils have to contend with the Mets hanging around until a big, eighth inning rally, they also had to deal with swirling winds and a sun-soaked afternoon with high clouds that made every fly ball hit to the outfield an adventure.

Be that as it may, the late innings were broken record time, as in the Phils got some timely hitting and more solid relief pitching...repeat.

Bobby Abreu kept swinging a hot bat and belted a wind-blown, 418-foot homer to right to give the Phils a 2-1 lead in the sixth. But the Mets came back, hell-bent to salvage a game and avoid falling 12 games behind before June 1.

After battling the elements, centerfielder Doug Glanville still found no ball in his glove on a normal, can-of-corn fly, giving Piazza a double that opened the door for a two-run inning in the sixth. But in the seventh ,Glanville rode the wind and made amends with a 403-foot shot to tie the game at 3.

"When we get behind, there's no panicking," Glanville said. "We feel like we can come back. It's a good characteristic to have. You're going to get beat a lot in this game. You're going to make mistakes. You'll have the opportunity to rectify those mistakes. So far, we've done that real well."

That was just the beginning.

After battling starter Rick Reed for seven innings, the Phils wasted no time in greeting reliever John Franco. Before the veteran lefty knew what hit him, the Phils had the bases loaded with no outs and threatened to break the game wide open in the eighth.

Scott Rolen opened with a walk, Travis Lee singled and Met-killer Pat Burrell hit a high fly ball to left that fell for a single as Darren Bragg lost it in the sun.

But with the bases loaded and the Mets' infield drawn in, catcher Johnny Estrada hit a bouncer to third. Robin Ventura forced Rolen at home, and Piazza's relay to first completed the double play. It seemed as if Franco was going to dodge some serious buckshot.

But then again, these are the Phillies.

Marlon Anderson hit Franco's next pitch for a two-run single, scoring Lee and Burrell. The club added another run in the ninth when Jerrod Riggan plunked Burrell with the bases loaded to force in Abreu.

Here's where that record starts skipping again. The bullpen complemented the timely hitting with three, perfect innings to back up strong pitching from starter Robert Person. Before handing it over to the three-headed monster named Vicente Padilla, Rheal Cormier and Jose Mesa, Person went six, strong innings giving up two earned runs (three total) with seven hits, three walks and four whiffs. During his stint, the sometimes-erratic Person was fairly efficient. He threw 98 pitches, 59 for strikes, and was routinely ahead in the count all afternoon long.

Meanwhile, Padilla (2-1),who was activated from the disabled list before the game and arrived at the ballpark as the game began, pitched a perfect inning. Mesa got three outs for his 15th save in 17 chances.

Now, the Phils head to Montreal for four games as they look to keep an impressive string of victories going. The win over the Mets was the club's eighth in their last nine games and 11th in their last 13. The team has won eight of their last nine series and five of six this year against their own division. If these facts don't make believers out of the rest of the East, or the scribes in New York, maybe this one will: The Phillies are 14-3 against the NL East.

Sure, this isn't likely to continue. But if the Phils perform at half of that level the rest of the way, they will be pretty difficult to catch.

Thursday night in Montreal the Phils will send Amaury Telemaco (4-1, 4.99) against Hideki Irabu, who will be making his season debut.

Notes: The Phillies placed Wayne Gomes on the DL with a strained tendon in his right knee Wednesday afternoon. He was injured on an attempted pickoff play Tuesday night. Padilla was activated from the DL to replace Gomes, and Bowa was unsure how long the Phillies would be without Gomes: "The best case, he could be out four or five weeks. The worst case he could be out for the season." ... Mets 2B Edgardo Alfonzo sat out with back spasms. He remains day-to-day. ... The Phillies are 16 games over .500 for the first time since July 3, 1995. ... Estrada grounded into three double plays.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com