• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rollins, Phillies pound out win over Astros

Apr 24, 2007 - 5:45 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies are finally backing up Jimmy Rollins' talk.

Rollins did his part with four hits and the Phillies extended their first winning streak of the season to three games with an 11-4 victory over the Houston Astros.

During spring training Rollins talked about the Phillies (7-11) being the team to beat in the National League East Division, but they had been an early disappointment, failing to win consecutive games until capturing the finale of a three-game set from the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

"Three in a row, but it's just another win," Rollins said. "We have a long season to go. We hope this type of play continues. Every game isn't gonna be like this, where we get 11 runs and 20 hits, but it's the attitude going out there we play with. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."

Shane Victorino, who had three hits and three RBI and scored twice, batted second and combined with Rollins to go 7-for-10. Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit.

"We're not gonna look back and say we started (badly)," Victorino said. "We're gonna look for a positive outlook and keep trying to get on a roll."

The Astros were in town for a makeup for a game that originally was scheduled for April 15 but postponed due to rain. After the performance by Rollins and the Philadelphia offense, Houston couldn't get out of town soon enough.

"We'll see if we can keep it up and stay consistent," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Craig Biggio gave Houston a 1-0 lead with a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game but Rollins answered with a leadoff homer of his own in the bottom of the first, and an RBI single by Pat Burrell later in the frame gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

The homers by Biggio and Rollins marked the first time this season that both leadoff men have homered in the same game. It was last done August 17, 2006.

"(Houston) came out banging right from the beginning," Rollins said. "They got a big hit from Biggio and I was able to turn around and do the same for our team. We just stayed after it."

Philadelphia snapped a 4-4 tie with three runs in the fourth and pulled away with a four-run seventh. Rollins, who had an RBI triple in the second, scored in both big innings and went 4-for-5 with two RBI and four runs scored.

"Our offense is staring to take off, starting with Jimmy," Victorino said. "He's our table setter and hopefully, we work from there."

Most of the Phillies' hits came off of Astros starter Chris Sampson (2-1), who had allowed just two runs in 15 innings to start the season. Sampson lasted only four innings, allowing seven runs and 14 hits.

"We didn't pitch very well tonight," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "That was the name of that game. We got the ball up and they didn't miss too many of them."

Adam Eaton (2-1) was not particularly sharp but benefited from the Phillies' offensive explosion to pick up the win. He allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

"I knew the offense was going to pick me up a little bit, because they were definitely swinging the bats very well tonight," Eaton said. "I was just kind of out there. It made my job a lot easier once we got that lead back."

Wes Helms and Burrell each had three hits for the Phillies. Chase Utley added three RBI, including a two-run home run in the seventh that went over the back wall in center field at an estimated 460 feet.

Lance Berkman had a solo home run and Mark Loretta had a two-run double for the Astros, who have lost three straight.