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Phillies rally from 6 down to sweep Dodgers

Aug 10, 2011 - 11:36 PM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Swagger is a heck of a thing.

The Phillies, while building baseball's best record, proved they have it in spades.

The Dodgers are still looking.

Trailing 6-0 after three innings, the Phillies scored nine times in the next three innings and held on for a 9-8 victory Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Ryan Howard's two-run homer capped a four-run sixth inning that finally gave Philadelphia the lead after its standout young starter, Vance Worley, was knocked around in one of his worst outings of the season.

Hunter Pence also had a two-run homer for the red-hot Phillies, who wrapped up the best 10-game road trip in franchise history with a 9-1 record. It was their 12th victory in the last 13 games overall.

Matt Kemp finished with four hits and Juan Rivera belted a three-run homer to key a five-run first inning for the Dodgers, who have lost four in a row.

The Phillies swept the Dodgers in LA for the first time since a three-game series from June 9-11, 1995.

They had to overcome an ugly start to wrap it up.

The Dodgers scored more earned runs against Worley than any team this season. The 23-year-old righty lasted just four innings and was charged with six runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out six. He allowed eight runs in a May 29 loss to the Mets -- his only setback of the season -- but only five of them were earned.

Kyle Kendrick (7-5) pitched the fifth inning and walked away with the win despite giving up a run. David Herndon, Brad Lidge and Antonio Bastardo combined to throw three scoreless innings and Ryan Madson earned his 22nd save of the season after giving up a run but escaping further trouble in the ninth.

"Our pitchers held them and gave us a chance to win and Ryan found a way to get a big hit," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

In the first inning, Casey Blake and Andre Ethier drew back-to-back walks off Worley and Kemp delivered an RBI single before Rivera knocked his eighth homer over the wall in left-center field to quickly make it 4-0.

James Loney walked and Dioner Navarro drove him in with a double for a 5-0 lead, but was thrown out trying to take third base. Jamey Carroll tripled for the seventh baserunner of the inning, but Worley fanned Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley for the third out.

The Dodgers pushed their lead to 6-0 on Navarro's sacrifice fly in the third inning, which scored Kemp, who led off the inning with a double.

But the Phillies scored nine runs over the next three innings, chipping away at the deficit until they finally took the lead.

"It's definitely frustrating," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "They put up nine runs in three innings. We couldn't stop the bleeding."

Pence homered and Worley hit an RBI single off Billingsley in the fourth inning, and the Dodgers right-hander was chased during a two-run rally in the fifth. Shane Victorino walked and scored on an error and Howard came home on a ground out by Raul Ibanez, getting the Phillies within 6-5.

After Loney doubled home Rivera in the fifth for a two-run LA lead, the Phillies took the lead in the sixth.

Ben Francisco drew a one-out walk against Hong-Chih Kuo and Jimmy Rollins singled off Blake Hawksworth (2-3). Chase Utley came through with a two-run single before Howard smacked his 25th homer of the season the opposite way to left field to make it 9-7 Phillies.

"It felt great," said Howard. "It was a fastball away. I just tried to see the pitch."

Later, Blake singled to lead off the ninth inning for the Dodgers, but stayed at first after Ibanez tracked down a long fly ball that Ethier hit to the warning track in left. Kemp singled to move Blake to third and Rivera grounded softly into a force out to score a run. But Madson got pinch hitter Rod Barajas on a fly out to end the game.

Game Notes

The Phillies went 5-1 against the Dodgers this season and are 9-2 in the last 11 meetings between the teams...Billingsley was charged with five runs -- two earned -- on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings and failed to earn a decision for the first time in 17 starts...The Phillies have a day off before starting a six- game homestand against Washington and Arizona...Despite the poor outing, Worley remained unbeaten in his last 10 starts -- all Phillies wins.