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Five-run rally helps Phillies fell Brewers

Aug 5, 2007 - 11:44 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Turnabout is fair play for the Philadelphia Phillies.

A day removed from squandering a five-run lead, Philadelphia rallied with a five-run ninth inning to tie Sunday's game and Wes Helms' two-run double in the 11th capped the comeback as the Phillies defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-6.

If the script sounds similar to Saturday's game, it should.

On Saturday, the Brewers scored the game's final five runs - highlighted by Prince Fielder's two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning off Tom Gordon - in their 6-5 victory over the Phillies at Miller Park.

As for Sunday, Helms - a former Brewer - deposited Manny Parra's pitch just inside the right-field line in the 11th inning. The drive plated Aaron Rowand and Ryan Howard, rendering Miller Park silent and handing Parra (0-1) his first decision of the season.

"It's a big win for us," Helms said. "We have to win to try to gain some ground. It's a big win, especially being down, 6-0. Everyone contributed; everyone had big at-bats."

In the bottom half of the frame, Rowand robbed Ryan Braun on a blast to center field, leaping over the wall to deny a home run.

Ironically on Saturday, Corey Hart did the same on a deep drive to right by Tadahito Iguchi. The 6-6 Hart needed all of his height and more, timing his jump perfectly and robbing Iguchi of a game-tying home run in the ninth.

"I was just trying to get back and make the catch," Rowand said. "Luckily, it stayed in my glove. It came loose, but I snatched it on the way down."

The Brewers loaded the bases off Phillies reliever Jose Mesa in the 11th, but the 41-year-old reliever induced Craig Counsell to lined out to Iguchi at second base for his first save.

"They tattooed some balls that inning," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We had a big inning and went from there. It's good to win one."

Brett Myers (2-3) allowed one hit and struck out one in 1 1/3 innings for the Phillies.

Milwaukee looked like it had Sunday's game sewn up heading into the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead.

However, Philadelphia rallied in the frame as Jayson Werth blasted a two-run homer to chase reliever Matt Wise. The Phillies scratched for another run when Francisco Cordero hit Howard with a pitch with the bases loaded. Rowand followed with a two-run single to left to tie the score.

"I thought I hit it hard enough to get it through," Rowand said. "He made it a lot closer than I'd like to see. He just didn't get his glove down in time."

Brewers manager Ned Yost felt the official scorer was generous with Rowand's hit.

"That's a play that has to be made," Yost said. "To give up five runs in the ninth ... those guys battled in the last inning. Counsell hit a missle that just missed. Things happen."

Cordero was pitching for the third straight day and dealing with hot, humid conditions. It was his first blown save at home and has five blown saves on the road.

"It was bad tonight because it was 6-1 and we weren't able to hold on to the lead," Cordero said. "That's how it is sometimes. We're not pitching against little kids. We're pitching to big league hitters. Nobody is going to be perfect. I've never seen one guy that's been perfect the whole season. We just have to do a better job."

Pat Burrell was 1-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 14 games for the Phillies, who avoided being swept by the Brewers and won for the first time in eight games in Milwaukee.

The Brewers got out of the blocks in a hurry with three consecutive doubles in a four-run first inning.

Corey Hart led off the bottom of the first with a single off Phillies starter Adam Eaton, and with two outs, Prince Fielder walked. Kevin Mench started the extra-base hit parade with a run-scoring double down the right field line and Jenkins followed with a two-run two-base hit to left.

Damian Miller doubled to score Mench and give the Brewers a 4-0 advantage.

The Brewers tacked on two more in the fifth, including Ryan Braun's 20th home run. The rookie third baseman became the fastest Brewers player to hit 20 home runs, doing so in his 64th game. The previous record was 94 games by Bill Schroeder.

Braun's 20 home runs have also came faster than any player's since Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit his 20th in his 63rd career game last year.

Geoff Jenkins added an RBI single in the fifth and enjoyed his second three-hit game in eight days.