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Padres batter Phillies' bullpen for comeback win

Aug 26, 2007 - 5:08 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies' pitching staff continues to sabotage their playoff chances.

Milton Bradley, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Terrmel Sledge hit solo home runs in the final two innings as the San Diego Padres rallied to edge the Phillies, 4-3, at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.

The Phillies (66-62) have lost four straight and dropped four games behind the Padres (70-58) in the National League wild card race. Philadelphia also fell seven games behind first-place New York (73-55) in the NL East Division after the Mets posted a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier in the day.

The Phillies wasted a fine outing from starter Kyle Lohse, who went 6 2/3 innings and allowed only a run and four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

"Lohse pitched a heck of a game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I felt like it was time to go get him. I might have given him a chance to finish the inning if (the score) was 5-1."

Lohse had thrown only 84 pitches, but San Diego manager Bud Black did not second-guess his counterpart's questionable decision.

"I thought Lohse was tough tonight," Black said. "He had a tough slider. He was locating his fastball. I've known Charlie for a long time. I'm a firm believer in the opposition knowing their own players better than I do."

Philadelphia was leading, 2-1, when Milton Bradley drove a 3-0 pitch from Tom Gordon into the second deck in right field with one out in the eighth inning to tie the game. It was Gordon's fifth blown save of the season.

"I had a 3-0 count, I had the green light and I got a pitch that I could hit," Bradley said. "It was a fastball, kind of middle away. All night, they were getting me out and I finally got a pitch I could handle."

Closer Brett Myers (2-5) came on to start the ninth for Philadelphia, and Kouzmanoff belted a 2-0 offering over the wall in right for an opposite field homer and a 3-2 advantage.

"The count was 2-0 and I was looking to put the barrel of the bat on the ball to hit it well," Kouzmanoff said.

Batting for Heath Bell (6-4), who struck out two in a perfect eighth inning, Sledge deposited a shot just over the left field wall two batters later, giving the Padres a two-run bulge.

"I definitely thought (both homers) were pop-ups," Myers said. "I thought they went straight up right off the bat. I thought they were two good pitches. It's so frustrating. I'm really irritated about the whole situation. I'm out there to get the job done, and I couldn't get it done."

The blast proved crucial as Ryan Howard beat out a grounder for an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, pulling the Phillies within a run. But Trevor Hoffman struck out All-Star Aaron Rowand to seal the win and notch his 33rd save.

Pat Burrell gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead in the first inning, when he drove a 2-2 offering from San Diego starter Clay Hensley into the left field seats for his 20th home run of the season.

The Phillies doubled the lead when Greg Dobbs led off the fourth with a bunt single and scored all the way from first on Jayson Werth's double.

Hensley labored throughout his 4 2/3 innings, throwing 102 pitches. The righthander allowed two runs and six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Lohse had retired 15 of the first 19 batters he faced before Mike Cameron got the Padres on the board with a leadoff homer in the sixth. Cameron drove a 1-2 pitch over the left-center field wall for his 17th blast of the year.

"Four solo home runs for all four runs," Black said. "You don't see that every day."