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Burrell, Moyer lead Phillies past Pirates

Jul 28, 2007 - 4:39 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies wasted no time in picking up the offense with Chase Utley out of the lineup.

Pat Burrell had a home run and three RBI and Greg Dobbs drove in two runs as the Phillies scored eight times in the first three innings and went on to an 8-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in an eight-inning, rain-shortened game Friday.

Utley, who is batting .336 with 41 doubles, 17 home runs and 82 RBI this season, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday after breaking a metacarpal bone in his right hand on Thursday.

"I just think we all realized that with Utley out, we all felt it was important to step up and put quality at-bats together," Dobbs said. "Obviously, the spotlight's gonna be on us, the guys that are in the lineup. We were able to get after them early and give us that cushion."

Jamie Moyer (9-8) was the beneficiary of the early onslaught and also drove in a run. The veteran lefthander went seven innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

"We scored some runs early and that was kind of nice," Moyer said. "We were ahead and they had to catch up. Fortunately, they didn't."

Philadelphia quickly jumped on Pittsburgh starter John Van Benschoten (0-5), who threw 84 pitches in just 2 1/3 innings.

Dobbs delivered a key two-out, two-run single in the first inning to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. Dobbs' hit came after the Phillies were about to come away empty-handed after loading the bases with none out.

"Anytime you can get a two-out hit and get RBIs out of it, it's huge," Dobbs said. "I happened to get it in the first inning. In any situation, you never want to leave runners on base. You want to get something out of that. You don't to waste that."

The Phillies sent 12 batters to the plate in the third inning and scored six runs. Van Benschoten walked Ryan Howard to start the frame before Burrell lined his next pitch into left field seats for his 13th home run to make it 4-0.

"Anytime we can get a big strong guy to hit the ball out of the ballpark, that's good for us," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Burrell's very important."

Dobbs, the next batter, walked and came around to score on a double by Carlos Ruiz. One out later, Moyer helped his own cause with a RBI single that made it 6-0 and ended Van Benschoten's outing.

Tony Armas came on and didn't fare any better as he gave up three consecutive singles, including a run-scoring hit by Jimmy Rollins. Armas later walked Burrell to force in a run that gave Philadelphia a commanding 8-0 lead.

Van Benschoten was charged with seven runs and six hits. He walked four, hit a batter and struggled with his control throughout his brief stint.

"Obviously, not a good start at all for Van Benschoten," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "To fall behind by eight runs in that short of a period, that's a huge hole."

Ronny Paulino accounted for the only Pittsburgh run with an RBI single in the fifth inning. Paulino had three of the six hits allowed by Moyer.

The Phillies were also missing the services of outfielder Aaron Rowand, who sat out because of a strained left shoulder and is day-to-day. However, Michael Bourn filled in capably and had a career-high four hits and scored two runs.

The game was delayed by rain after the seventh inning for 61 minutes before being called.