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Post by Loki on Jun 19, 2006 1:04:40 GMT -5
Series at a Glance Tampa Bay 10 Philadelphia 4 Fri, Jun 16 - Final
Tampa Bay 7 Philadelphia 2 Sat, Jun 17 - Final
Tampa Bay 5 Philadelphia 8 Sun, Jun 18 - Final
Philadelphia 8, Tampa Bay 5
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Ryan Howard homered and drove in four runs to help the Philadelphia Phillies snap a season-worst six-game losing streak, 8-5 over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Sunday.
Philadelphia salvaged its first victory on its nine-game homestand, which concludes with a three-game set against the New York Yankees beginning on Monday. The win also ended a five-game losing streak to Tampa Bay, which owns a 10-5 mark against the Phillies since the series started in 1998.
David Dellucci had three hits and Chase Utley scored three runs for Philadelphia, which finished with 13 hits, including one by every position player.
Utley and Howard both needed a big day and got it against the Devil Rays.
Utley, who came into the game mired in a 5-for-42 (.119) stretch, went 2-for-5. His two-out RBI single tied it at 3 in the fifth.
Howard hadn't been much better. He had four hits in his previous 21 at-bats and, making matters worse, committed a costly error in Tampa Bay's two-run third inning.
He turned it around in the fifth.
With two runners on and two outs, Howard hit a pitch from Seth McClung (2-10) the opposite way into the left-field seats to give the Phillies a 6-3 lead -- the team's first lead of the series. Fourteen of Howard's 23 homers have gone to left field.
Howard added an RBI single and Abraham Nunez doubled in a run in the seventh to make it 8-4 Philadelphia.
Ryan Madson (7-4) gave up four runs -- two earned -- and five hits in 6 2-3 innings for his fourth win in his last six starts. He struck out four and walked two.
Rheal Cormier relieved Madson in the seventh with runners on first and third. After Tomas Perez scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4, Cormier got Carl Crawford to ground out to end the inning.
Arthur Rhodes gave up an RBI double by Aubrey Huff in the eighth and left the game with two runners on and one out. Tom Gordon, who hadn't pitched since June 10, got the final five outs for his 19th save in 20 opportunities.
Tampa Bay, which scored first in all three games of the series, took a 1-0 lead when Russell Branyan hit a drive to right field in the second inning for his eighth homer.
The Devils Rays took advantage of some shoddy defense to pad their lead to 3-0 in the third. Josh Paul hit a soft liner to first baseman Howard, who dropped the ball. Two outs later, Crawford lined a shot into the right-field seats for his 10th homer.
Philadelphia strung together three two-out singles in the third, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Shane Victorino scored on a wild pitch and Bobby Abreu added an RBI single.
McClung lost his sixth straight start, surrendering six runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Notes
The Devil Rays used five consecutive pinch-hitters in the top of the eighth inning. ... The Phillies are 15-5 when Howard homers. ... Before Howard's home run, eight of the team's last 10 homers were solo shots. ... Since a 13-1 streak in June, the Phillies are 12-20. ... Tampa Bay finished 5-5 on its 10-game road trip. ... Eight of Branyan's last 13 hits have been homers.
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Post by Loki on Jun 20, 2006 2:37:36 GMT -5
Series at a Glance NY Yankees 2 Philadelphia 4 Mon, Jun 19 - Final
NY Yankees at Philadelphia Tue, Jun 20 - 7:05 pm EDT M. Mussina vs. C. Lidle
NY Yankees at Philadelphia Wed, Jun 21 - 7:05 pm EDT J. Wright vs. C. Hamels
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Post by Loki on Jun 21, 2006 1:08:02 GMT -5
NY Yankees 9, Philadelphia 7 Preview - Box Score - Recap
By ROB MAADDI, AP Sports Writer June 20, 2006
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Ryan Howard's spectacular night ended the same way it has for many hitters before him -- against Mariano Rivera.
Johnny Damon hit a go-ahead, two-run triple in the eighth inning and Rivera pitched the final two innings for his 14th save in 16 chances, helping New York overcome Howard's two homers and seven RBIs in the Yankees' 9-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
With runners on first and second in the ninth, Rivera retired Howard on a bouncer to second base to end the game.
"That's what it's all about. As a closer, you have to face those guys, you have to face the best hitters," said Rivera, who recorded his first six-out save of the season. "I want to face the best."
Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada homered and Bernie Williams went 5-for-5 for the Yankees, who ended a three-game losing skid despite another subpar outing from Mike Mussina. Howard hit his 24th and 25th homers to tie the injured Albert Pujols for the major league lead and had a tiebreaking two-run triple in the seventh.
But Arthur Rhodes quickly gave up the lead against a team that has owned him throughout his career. Rhodes (0-2) didn't retire a batter in the eighth, allowing four runs. He's 4-8 with a 7.22 ERA in 49 games against the Yankees.
"The pitching failed us," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
Williams had an infield single to start the eighth and Miguel Cairo walked. Pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera snapped an 0-for-15 slump with an RBI single to cut it to 7-6. Damon then ripped a two-run triple to center field to give the Yankees their first lead, 8-7. Ryan Franklin came in and gave up an RBI single to Derek Jeter.
T.J. Beam (1-0) retired the only batter he faced in the seventh inning for his first win in the majors. Desperate for a victory, Yankees manager Joe Torre then turned to Rivera in the eighth.
"It's not something I like to do, but I felt the game was important and we have an off day Thursday," Torre said. "Mo was up to the challenge. When you think about all the things he's done in his career and the hitters he's faced, he doesn't back down from anybody."
Howard wasn't in the starting lineup against lefty Randy Johnson on Monday night. He quickly showed the Yankees his tremendous power in the first inning. Mussina retired the first two batters before Bobby Abreu singled and Pat Burrell walked. Howard hit Mussina's next pitch into the third deck in right field. The mammoth shot traveled an estimated 461 feet and was the first to reach that level in the three-year history of Citizens Bank Park -- Barry Bonds' 713th career homer on May 7 hit the facade of the upper deck in right.
Before Howard came to the plate, Mussina yelled at plate umpire Gary Cederstrom because he thought his 3-1 pitch to Burrell was a strike. Cederstrom took off his mask and said something back to Mussina.
If Mussina was rattled, Howard certainly took advantage. He paused to admire his blast before jogging around the bases while teammates in the dugout were awed by the drive. Brett Myers stood up and screamed, "Oh My God!" and Ryan Madson nearly fell over.
"They were pretty shocked," Howard said. "I just knew it took off. I didn't know where it was or where it was going to land."
Howard's next homer probably was more impressive.
After the Yankees tied it at 3 with two runs in the fourth, Howard hit an opposite-field, two-run shot in the bottom half of the inning. Burrell led off with a single, before Howard hit a low-and-away 1-2 pitch into the left-center field seats.
"He's awesome," Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said of Howard. "I love watching him. He's pretty impressive. He's going to have a great future."
Mussina allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings. He's 0-2 with a no-decision in his last three starts after going 8-1.
Phillies starter Cory Lidle gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. It was the 14th time in 15 starts he failed to pitch seven innings.
The Yankees got their first run on an RBI single by Williams in the second inning. Giambi homered leading off the fourth and Kevin Reese blooped an RBI single with two outs to tie it at 3.
Posada's solo homer in the sixth cut it to 5-4 and Rodriguez had an RBI single in the seventh to tie it at 5.
Notes
Howard's seven RBIs are a career high. He leads the majors with 66. Pitcher Robert Person was the last Phillie to drive in seven runs in one game. He did it against Montreal on June 2, 2002. Howard has four multihomer games -- all this season. ... Posada has now homered in 25 different major league stadiums. That's the most of any player in Yankees history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Williams has five five-hit games in his career. His previous one was Aug. 15, 2002, at Anaheim. ... Phillies LHP Randy Wolf, who had elbow surgery last July 1, will make his third rehab start at Double-A Reading on Wednesday night. His first two were at Single-A Clearwater. ... Phillies RHP Jon Lieber, sidelined with a groin injury, will start Thursday night for Philadelphia's Gulf Coast team in Clearwater. ... Reese got his first career RBI. ... Rivera struck out in his first career at-bat in the regular season in the ninth.
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Post by Loki on Jun 22, 2006 0:20:36 GMT -5
Wed June 21st 2006 result: NY Yankees 5, Philadelphia 0
NY Yankees 2 Philadelphia 4 Mon, Jun 19 - Final
NY Yankees 9 Philadelphia 7 Tue, Jun 20 - Final
NY Yankees 5 Philadelphia 0 Wed, Jun 21 - Final
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Post by Loki on Jul 10, 2006 0:31:02 GMT -5
Series at a Glance
Pittsburgh 3 Philadelphia 2 Fri, Jul 7 - Final
Pittsburgh 2 Philadelphia 6 Sat, Jul 8 - Final
Pittsburgh 3 Philadelphia 8 Sun, Jul 9 - Final Philadelphia 8, Pittsburgh 3 By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer July 9, 2006
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Charlie Manuel was fired once before at the All-Star break in his first managerial stint with Cleveland. He'd like to believe he can safely pack his bags after this break when Philadelphia travels to San Francisco later this week.
Manuel can handle the rumors about his shaky job status. It's the way others handle the speculation that has him on edge.
"People look at you like you have cancer," Manuel said. "They act like they don't know what to say to you."
He won't mind the concerned looks if he can keep his job.
Cole Hamels pitched five solid innings to win for the first time in over a month, and the Philadelphia Phillies took their first series in that same span, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3 Sunday.
General manager Pat Gillick hasn't indicated that Manuel's job is in jeopardy, but the Phillies have sorely underachieved after finishing only one game behind National League wild-card winner Houston last season. Manuel said the rumors have affected his team's performance.
"If I lose games for the Phillies, then I've got to go," he said.
Nearly 90 minutes after the extended press conference ended, Manuel called a Phillies spokesman to relay a message to the media that he did not believe he was going to be fired.
Manuel was fired at the 2002 break in the final year of his contract with the Indians over a contract dispute. Manuel said he learned his lesson with the Indians about going public with his unhappiness over a team's direction and wouldn't gripe about the Phillies' talent level.
"When I was in Cleveland, I kind of fired myself," he said. "I got blamed for a lot of things. They act like I walked in and asked for a contract and asked for more money and I never did. ... Once I got let go, everything was my fault, everything fell on me. I felt that kind of hurt who I was in baseball. I never will quit. I'll come to work every day and do the best I possibly can."
Expected to be the next Philly Phenom, Hamels (2-4) has been more of a Philly Flop since he was called up in early May. The left-hander hadn't won since June 6 against Arizona in a victory that clinched a series win against the Diamondbacks.
He lost his next four starts and had a no-decision in his last outing as the Phillies tumbled under .500 and out of the NL East race. The Phillies had lost eight straight series and won their first home series since May 29-31 against Washington.
"We finally won a series if that means anything," Manuel said. "We've got to play a lot better baseball."
Bobby Abreu had three hits and reached base for the 34th straight game, and Chris Coste continued his hot hitting with two RBIs for the Phillies.
Joe Randa drove in two runs for the Pirates, who lost the final two games of the three-game set to drop their eighth straight series.
Hamels was considered the organization's top pitching prospect and went 3-1 with 65 strikeouts and a 1.04 ERA in seven minor league starts this year. After striking out seven in five shutout innings in his major league debut, the former first-round pick was a big disappointment, going 0-4 with a 7.57 ERA in his last five starts.
But he survived an early 2-0 hole against Pittsburgh and the Phillies gave him the timely run support he needed to head into the All-Star break with a bit of a confidence boost.
Ryan Franklin tossed two shutout innings and two other relievers combined to nudge Philadelphia's record to 40-47 at the break.
"No team will ever meet expectations," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.
A day after he drove in a career-high three runs, Coste put the Phillies ahead 4-3 in the fifth inning with an RBI single off Pirates starter Zach Duke (5-8). David Bell followed with a sacrifice fly. Coste added another run-scoring single in the sixth.
Those fifth-inning runs made a winner out of Hamels, who allowed three runs, six hits and struck out seven. The Pirates touched Hamels for two runs in the first on All-Star game starter Jason Bay's sacrifice fly and Randa's RBI single.
The Phillies tied it in their half of the inning, scoring two unearned runs off Duke. Jimmy Rollins reached to open the inning on a two-base error after the ball bounced off Randa's glove. Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double off the right-field scoreboard and he scored the tying run on a fielder's choice.
Aaron Rowand added an RBI double in the third and Pat Burrell had an RBI double in the sixth.
Duke allowed 10 hits and seven runs (five earned) in 5 1-3 innings. Duke hasn't won since June 14.
"We gave away too many opportunities for them to score runs today," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said.
Notes
RHP Brett Myers, who took a leave of absence after his arrest on charges that he hit his wife in the face, will rejoin the Phillies on Friday. A decision about his return to the rotation will be made at a later date. ... The Pirates last won a series June 8-11 against San Francisco. ... Pirates LHP John Grabow was not available after suffering tightness in his left groin. ... The Phillies had lost four straight home series. ... The Phillies have allowed 25 first-inning runs in their last 24 games
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Post by Loki on Jul 17, 2006 1:33:25 GMT -5
Series at a Glance Philadelphia 3 San Francisco 5 Fri, Jul 14 - Final
Philadelphia 14 San Francisco 6 Sat, Jul 15 - Final
Philadelphia 6 San Francisco 2 Sun, Jul 16 - Final National League East W L Pct GB NY Mets 55 37 .598 -- Atlanta 43 49 .467 12.0 Philadelphia 42 48 .467 12.0 Florida 40 50 .444 14.0 Washington 39 54 .419 16.5
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