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Phillies use homers to down Rockies in 10

Aug 2, 2011 - 6:26 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - John Mayberry Jr. hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the ninth before Shane Victorino smacked the game-winning shot in the 10th, lifting the Phillies to a 4-3 victory over the Rockies.

Monday's game, which opened a three-game series at Coors Field, is the Phillies' second consecutive extra-inning thriller.

They beat the Pirates on Sunday thanks to Raul Ibanez, who tied the game with a two-run blast in the eighth, then won it with an RBI double in the bottom of the 10th.

The heroes were different Monday but the result was the same -- another victory. The Phillies have won four in a row and 10 of 13, and have the best record in baseball at 69-39.

"This ballclub that we're playing, they're 30 games over .500 for a reason, and we just saw it," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy.

The Rockies lost their second in a row after Huston Street failed to close the game.

He had the Phillies down to their final out after striking out Ibanez and retiring Placido Polanco on a fly ball to center. But Carlos Ruiz doubled to left field to bring up Mayberry, who was pinch-hitting.

Mayberry fell behind in the count but eventually worked it full, then fouled off two pitches.

The eighth pitch of the at-bat was one Mayberry could handle. Street threw the slider toward the outside part of the plate, but left it up and still in the zone, and Mayberry extended to drive it over the left field fence and make it a 3-3 game.

"It feels great to be able to be in that spot and come up with the game-tying home run," Mayberry said.

Antonio Bastardo (5-0) gave up a leadoff single to Seth Smith in the bottom half, but after Smith advanced to second on a sacrifice, the Phillies reliever induced consecutive groundouts to short.

Left-hander Rex Brothers (1-2) took the mound for Colorado to open the 10th, a move that put the switch-hitting Victorino on the right side of the plate.

The move favored Victorino, who has excelled against left-handed pitching this season. Entering Monday's game, he was hitting .353 with five homers and a .470 on-base percentage in 84 plate appearances against left-handers.

He continued that trend with Monday's performance. Victorino went up to the plate swinging and fouled off a number of pitches while taking three balls. Brothers then threw a 94 m.p.h. fastball belt-high, and Victorino hammered it to left to put the Phillies in front.

"I was able to lay off the sliders that were in and get a pitch I could handle," Victorino said. "It was definitely something that worked to our benefit."

Ryan Madson set the Rockies down in order in the home half of the 10th to record his 19th save.

Smith put Colorado on top in the second, when he hit Cole Hamels' inside fastball to center for a two-run homer.

The Phillies got on the board in the seventh, when Hunter Pence blooped a single into center and Ibanez drove a ball to left-center. Center fielder Dexter Fowler apparently lost track of the hit, which fell in.

But in the bottom half, leadoff batter Chris Iannetta ripped a hanging slider from Michael Stutes -- who replaced Hamels to start the inning -- over the wall in left-center field.

The Phillies had a chance to tie the game in the eighth with two on and one out. However, after Matt Reynolds retired Ryan Howard on a groundout, Rafael Betancourt came in and fanned Pence.

Game Notes

Hamels allowed two runs on six hits and a walk in six innings...Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin pitched well in 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and two walks...The Phillies released right-handed reliever Danys Baez on Monday. Baez pitched to a 6.25 earned run average in 29 appearances out of the team's bullpen this year.