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Phillies rally in ninth to down Royals

Apr 7, 2013 - 5:33 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen's three-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Philadelphia Phillies over the Kansas City Royals, 4-3, in the middle installment of a three-game interleague series.

Holding a 3-1 lead, Kansas City sent Greg Holland (0-1) to the mound to close out the game. Instead, the right-hander walked the first three batters he faced -- Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Michael Young. He briefly rebounded by striking out Domonic Brown and John Mayberry.

Frandsen then came off the bench and drilled a fastball to right-center field, clearing the bases for the come-from-behind victory.

"You can't walk the bases loaded. At some point, you've got to command the strike zone," Holland said.

Ben Revere had an RBI for the Phillies, who had just three hits. John Lannan lasted seven innings in his Philadelphia debut, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five. Antonio Bastardo (1-0) tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up the win.

"You don't want to start 0-2 at home, especially in front of these fans with the energy they bring," Frandsen said.

Miguel Tejada knocked in two runs for the Royals, who won 13-4 in the opener on Friday. Elliot Johnson added an RBI.

Kansas City starter Luis Mendoza gave up one run on two hits over six innings. The right-hander, who fanned seven and walked three, went 8-10 last season with a 4.23 ERA in 30 games (25 starts).

Philadelphia failed to score with runners in scoring position early on. In the second, Brown reached base on a fielder's choice and Mayberry walked with two outs. Humberto Quintero, making his Phillies debut at catcher, struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Phillies stranded a runner on second during their next at-bat. With two outs, Jimmy Rollins walked and stole second. This time around, Utley grounded out.

Kansas City's first hit of the game came in the fifth. Lorenzo Cain was hit by a pitch and Jeff Francoeur doubled down the left-field line, putting men on second and third. Tejada then grounded out to plate the first run of the contest. Johnson followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0. The Royals put men on the corners later in the inning, but Alcides Escobar grounded into a fielder's choice.

Philadelphia finally solved Mendoza in the bottom half of the frame. Mayberry walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and raced home on Revere's single to left. Rollins flied out to keep it a 2-1 contest.

The Royals tacked on a run in the seventh to go back up by two. Francoeur led off with a double to right-center field and scored on Tejada's double down the right-field line, making it 3-1.

Game Notes

Lannan signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal this offseason with the Phillies after appearing in just six games a year ago for the Washington Nationals. However, he made the most of his opportunities, going 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA ... Each team went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position ... A crowd of 39,475 at Citizens Bank Park was the first under 40,000 since April 29, 2009, when they had 36,351 come out for a game against Washington.