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Phils continue trip in Colorado

Aug 2, 2011 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - The Phillies may be showing signs of pulling away with the National League East title, but they are at least keeping things interesting.

Fresh off their second extra-inning victory, Philadelphia continues its three- game series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field seeking a fifth straight win.

The Phillies stormed into Denver off a three-game sweep of the Pirates, a set that ended on Sunday when Raul Ibanez capped a two-homer game with a game- winning RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning. His second home run of the game in the eighth had tied the contest.

Colorado had Philadelphia against the wall in Monday's opener, holding a two- run lead with closer Huston Street on the mound. Street had the Phillies down to their final out, but catcher Carlos Ruiz kept things alive with a double to bring up a pinch-hitting John Mayberry Jr. Mayberry then drove the eighth pitch of the at-bat, a slider, over the left-field fence to tie the game.

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

His hit led to more heroics as Shane Victorino smacked a go-ahead homer in the 10th inning to give the Phillies a 4-3 victory and wins in 10 of their past 13. The triumph also upped their MLB-leading record to 69-39 and gave them a seven-game edge over the Braves for first place in the NL East.

Not a bad way to start out a 10-game road trip out west.

Colorado, meanwhile, got homers from Seth Smith and Chris Iannetta, but Street was unable to close the door. The Rockies have now lost two straight and six of nine.

"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.

With his time as a starter likely coming towards an end after Roy Oswalt made his likely final rehab start on Monday, Kyle Kendrick will try to find the win column tonight for the Phillies.

Expected to be the odd man out when Oswalt returns from a back injury, Kendrick has struggled in consecutive outings since beating the Mets on July 17 with seven innings of one-run ball. The right-hander yielded three runs over 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision versus the Padres six days later and then took a loss to the Giants on Thursday. Kendrick was charged with four runs, all but one of those earned, over 6 1/3 innings.

Kendrick fell to 5-5 on the season with a 3.52 earned run average in 25 games this year. Ten of those have been starts, including one forgettable one at home versus the Rockies on May 19. The 26-year-old was charged with five runs over three innings, with Jason Giambi accounting for all the runs with a pair of homers.

That defeat is the only one Philadelphia has suffered in its past eight meetings with Colorado going back to last season. If it wants to keep that trend going, the club will have to contend with a resurgent Aaron Cook, who goes for a third straight victory.

After missing the first two months of the season with a broken right finger, Cook lost his first five decisions before beating the Diamondbacks on July 22. He did, however, allow four runs over six innings, but responded five days later with seven scoreless innings of six-hit ball to beat the Dodgers, 3-1, on Wednesday.

"I attacked the strike zone, kept the ball down and kept them off balance. I was able to get ahead of guys and go from there," Cook said after moving to 2-5 with a 5.05 ERA in nine starts this year.

The 32-year-old righty has struggled in his career versus the Phillies, going 1-6 with a 6.05 ERA in 11 games, including 10 starts.