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Phillies rally past Nationals for fourth straight win

Apr 25, 2007 - 4:33 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Things certainly seem to have changed for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Wes Helms and Aaron Rowand provided key hits late in the game and the suddenly streaking Phillies posted a 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game series.

The Phillies (8-11) extended their first winning streak of the season to four games.

Philadelphia opened the season as one of the biggest disappointments in baseball, getting off to a 3-10 start. The Phillies could do little right, struggling at the plate when they pitched well and their bullpen did nothing but make matters worse.

On Tuesday, Philadelphia got a quality start from Jamie Moyer, who kept the team in the game until the late rally. Moyer allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.

"I knew we weren't playing up to our standards, (but) I really didn't look at the (3-10) record," Moyer said. "I know it wasn't good, but to dwell on it and waste energy in those directions is not fun.

"To me, the poor start is over. If we as players stay focused, good things are gonna happen. That's part of the grind of a long season. We're inching our way back into this. It was a good team win."

The Phillies did a little bit of everything and even got some help from the Nationals.

Rowand tied the game, 3-3, with a leadoff home run in the seventh inning. In the eighth, Helms came through to put the Phillies ahead for the first time.

Chase Utley was hit by a pitch from Micah Bowie to lead off the eighth. Bowie struck out Ryan Howard and was relieved by Jon Rauch, who promptly walked Pat Burrell. Helms then dropped a base hit into shallow right-center to score Utley. Burrell scored on the play when the throw to third by center fielder Ryan Church went through the legs of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

"When you got the big guys going and the bottom of the lineup going, it just shows you how many runs we can put up," Helms said.

Carlos Ruiz capped the three-run inning for the Phillies by plating Helms with a two-out single.

"We got a lot of clutch hitting, a lot of good at-bats," Rowand said. "We ended up pulling it out. The hitting is starting to come around. Guys are picking each other up and that's what it's about. There's a lot of that going around right now."

Antonio Alfonseca (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up the win. Tom Gordon struck out one in the ninth to pick up his fourth save in six chances.

The Nationals scored single runs in the second, third and sixth innings.

Church doubled to right center to drive in Austin Kearns in the second. Kearns tripled to lead off the inning when Rowand dove for a ball in center but came up empty.

"I would have been real disappointed if that would have cost us the ballgame," Rowand said. "I got caught in between. I was going to try and dive for it and catch it and I realized I wasn't going to be able to get there, because the ball kind of died."

Felipe Lopez led off the third with a single and scored on a double by Ronnie Belliard. Kearns scored on a single by Brian Schneider in the sixth to give Washington a 3-1 lead.

"We need to score some runs in this ballpark," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "You're not going to win with three runs here."

Rowand took advantage of a two-out error in the second when he doubled in the Phillies first run, but that was the only hit allowed by Nationals starter Jason Bergmann in the first five innings.

The Phillies finally got their second hit in the sixth when Utley doubled with two outs and came around to score on Burrell's double to pull within 3-2.

"I like the way we swung the bats with two outs," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Bergmann allowed two runs - one earned - and three hits in six innings. Bowie (0-1) allowed a run and struck out two.

"Bergmann had his stuff tonight," Helms said. "He kept us off balance for awhile. He doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he has great movement. He's a mental pitcher. He knows what he's doing out there. We didn't hit him hard at all."