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Phillies slam slumping White Sox to complete sweep

Jun 13, 2007 - 9:49 PM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Aaron Rowand came off the bench and hit a grand slam to help the Philadelphia Phillies finish off a three-game sweep of the slumping Chicago White Sox with an 8-4 victory on Wednesday.

It was Chicago's eighth loss in their last nine games.

Rowand, a former White Sox outfielder, cleared the bases with a shot over the left-field wall in the seventh inning off lefthander Matt Thornton, giving the Phillies an 8-3 lead.

"It feels good, not so much because it was them. It would be great no matter who that happened against," Rowand said. "I do not have any ill will against anybody in that organization."

Rowand was not in the starting lineup, but pinch hit in the pitcher's spot in the sixth inning, tying the score 3-3 on an RBI ground out.

"We know what kind of player (Rowand) is," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He did a pretty good job with us and he's playing real good with Philly. This guy is a special guy."

Thornton (2-2) took the loss, allowing five runs in 1 1/3 innings.

"I've got to get the job done," Thornton said. "I can't walk the guy (Rod Barajas) on four pitches. He was 0-for-4 with three punchouts, whatever it was. It's ridiculous."

Barajas' two-out walk loaded the bases and set the stage for Rowand.

Ryan Madson (1-2) picked up the win, pitching a scoreless inning of relief for righthander Kyle Kendrick, who was making his major league debut.

Kendrick pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a pair of walks. He struck out four.

"It is my job to pitch a game and help these guys win a game," said Kendrick on keeping his emotions in check. "It is nice obviously being in the big leagues, but I am just trying to help these guys win a game."

"He showed great poise for a young kid," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

The White Sox jumped on the rookie in the first inning. With two outs, Jermaine Dye doubled over Shane Victorino's head in center field, scoring Alex Cintron. Cintron had earlier ripped a double down the first base line with one out.

The Phillies struck back in the bottom half of the first against White Sox rookie lefthander John Danks. Victorino walked, stole second and scored on a single to right field by Chase Utley to even the score.

Chicago regained the lead in the second inning. Kendrick hit Luis Terrero with a pitch to open the inning, and the speedy outfielder stole second. Rookie Josh Fields singled up the middle, scoring Terrero to put the White Sox ahead 2-1.

Danks promptly relinquished the lead, serving up Wes Helms' first homer of the season in the second inning.

Cintron, who had three hits, scored from third base in the third inning when Dye grounded into a double play.

Danks was lifted after 4 2/3 innings after allowing two runs on five hits and three walks to go along with five strikeouts.

"I got spotted three runs in the first three innings, and to give two of them back right away burns a little bit," Danks said.

Ryan Bukvich relieved Danks and induced a ground out by Pat Burrell to end the fifth inning.

Kendrick blooped a single to right field in his first major league at-bat that a diving Dye could not corral.

"We keep trying as hard as we can," Guillen said on his team's slide. "Right now, when we pitch, we don't hit. When we hit, we don't pitch. To win games at the big league level, you've got to put these things together."

Former Phillie Jim Thome had two hits in his first appearance of the series. Thome received a standing ovation from the fans when he came to bat in the first inning.

"For me, it's something I'll always remember," Thome said. "Very special, a lot of emotion inside. Looking back at the short time I had here, their fans really took me in when I came here. It meant a lot today to have that. It really did."