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Lidge escapes again, Phillies hold off Rockies 5-4

Jul 26, 2010 - 9:35 PM PHILADELPHIA(AP) -- Brad Lidge pounced on the soft tapper from Ryan Spilborghs, set his feet and fired to first baseman Ryan Howard.

Out.

The Phillies closer had escaped yet another bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning, and Philadelphia held off the Colorado Rockies 5-4 Monday to complete a four-game sweep.

Generally calm after saves, Lidge showed some emotion this time with a fist swipe.

"I wasn't thrilled today," Lidge said. "I actually had a better fastball and better command today. It just goes to show that you never know what's going to happen. But I feel great that we won the game and that I got my job done."

Backup catcher Brian Schneider's two-run triple sent the Phillies toward their fifth straight win. The two-time NL champions, still minus injured All-Star second baseman Chase Utley, pulled within 4 1/2 games of idle East-leading Atlanta.

The Rockies lost their sixth in a row and limped home after a 2-9 road trip.

"A similar story line for us," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "That's how it's been for 11 games. A very tough trip and it didn't have to be that way. A couple of base hits would've made the difference."

Seth Smith hit a two-out, two-run homer off Lidge in the ninth and Colorado went on to load the bases, but Spilborghs hit a little bouncer to the left side of the mound. Lidge came in and made a strong throw to first base for the final out, getting his 10th save in 13 chances.

A day earlier, Lidge struck out Ian Stewart with the bases loaded to preserve a 4-3 victory.

Lidge was fortunate to have a bigger lead on Monday.

"You can't give up three runs," Lidge said. "First and foremost, you're happy to win, but you know you have work to do. I made adjustments from last night to today, but it didn't go the way I wanted. (Still), it ended up right. It's one of those deals. You can go through rough times and blow saves. Right now, lots of guys are getting on base, but I'm not blowing saves."

Joe Blanton (4-6) won for the first time since beating Cleveland on June 24. He gave up two runs in the first, but allowed only three more hits before leaving after six innings with a 5-2 lead.

"I felt good," Blanton said. "I just had a lot of runners on all day. I was able to keep the ball down more after the first inning."

The Phillies took the lead for good by scoring three times in the second. Ross Gload singled off Jason Hammel (7-6), Greg Dobbs doubled and Schneider hit his first triple since Sept. 22, 2007.

Colorado first baseman Jason Giambi then made errors on consecutive plays. First, he dropped Hammel's throw on Blanton's comebacker. Next, Giambi fielded a grounder by Jimmy Rollins but threw low to shortstop Clint Barmes trying to get a forceout, letting Schneider score.

Philadelphia scored twice in the sixth after Dobbs led off with a single and Schneider walked. A sacrifice by pinch-hitter Cody Ransom set up RBI singles by Placido Polanco and Raul Ibanez.

Phillies relievers Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero each pitched a scoreless inning. Lidge took over to start the ninth and Miguel Olivo led off with a double. Smith hit his 14th homer with two outs, and a walk, a single, a wild pitch and an intentional walk to Giambi brought up Spilborghs.

The Phillies had a scare in the second when Jimmy Rollins fouled a ball off his left foot, and remained on the ground for several minutes. He stayed in the game, but was limping. X-rays taken after the game were negative.

NOTES: Charlie Manuel won his the 500th game as Phillies manager. Only Gene Mauch (645) and Danny Ozark (594) have more victories. ... Phillies slugger Ryan Howard went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts and a walk, snapping his 11-game hitting streak. ... This was Philadelphia's first four-game sweep of the Rockies. ... Ibanez is batting .371 with eight RBIs since the All-Star break.