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Rowand, Burrell homer to lead Phillies

Aug 18, 2007 - 5:34 AM By Brad Everett PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- After struggling to score just nine runs in a three-game series against one last place team, the Philadelphia Phillies had hoped to get their offense back on track versus another. Against the National League Central Division doormat Pittsburgh Pirates, the surging Phillies did just that - and more.

Behind 16 hits and two four-run innings, the Phillies found their offensive groove once again on Friday night, rolling past the Pirates, 11-8.

With the win, Philadelphia (65-56) won for the eighth time in 11 games and remained in second place in the NL Eastern Division, three games behind the New York Mets (68-53) winners over a Washington club that had stymied the Phillies the past three games. On this night, however, the Phillies bats awoke.

Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand both broke out of slumps - each hitting three-run home runs - while Burrell and Jimmy Rollins netted three hits apiece.

"It was a matter of time before we started swinging the bats again," Rowand said. "You're going to have those ups and have those downs in the course of a season. We really came out swinging the bats better tonight and got a win."

After trailing 2-1 and being limited to just a run on four hits through four innings against Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny (11-7), the Phillies broke through in a big way in the fifth.

Back-to-back doubles by Rollins and Tadahito Iguchi tied the score at 2-2, and Burrell then followed with a single to put runners on first and third. After Ryan Howard was called out on strikes, Rowand hit a three-run home run, his 20th of the season, to give the Phillies a 5-2 advantage.

"We got guys on base, and when we got them on base, we capitalized in getting them in," said Burrell.

Pittsburgh cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the frame, as pinch hitter Matt Kata hit his first home run as a Pirate. It was the sixth home run for a Pirates pinch hitter this season. After Gorzelanny exited the game, the Phillies treated reliever Shane Youman much the same in a four-run sixth inning.

A Rollins single - his third hit of the game - plated Chris Coste, who led off the inning with a single. An Iguchi single brought home Rollins and Burrell extended the Phillies lead to 9-3 when he hit an 0-1 pitch just inside the left-field foul pole for his 18th home run and 1,000 hit of his career.

"I had never even thought about it," Burrell said about the milestone. "It's nice, but then you look also at guys that have 3,000. It seems like a small number compared to some of the other guys."

Phillies starter J.D. Durbin (5-2) won his fifth consecutive decision, giving up three runs - two earned - and four hits in six innings. The righthander walked two and struck out three.

"It was a good outing," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Durbin did fine. He threw strikes when he absolutely had to. As the game went, too, he started getting his slider over better."

The Pirates later attempted to make a comeback with two home runs, but could only cut the Phillies lead in half.

Ronnie Paulino hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, and Jose Bautista followed the next inning with a two-run shot. Philadelphia added two more runs in the ninth inning on a Coste two-run single, while the Pirates matched them with a pair of RBI groundouts by Nate McLouth and Freddy Sanchez.

"I give our offense credit," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "They kept battling. We took some good at-bats."

It was the fourth loss in five games for the Pirates, who continue to be saddled with the National League's worst record (50-70). Sanchez knocked in each of the Pirates first two runs, as well, an RBI single in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the third, and has now reached base safely in 19 straight games.

Gorzelanny, one of the few bright spots for the Pirates this season, struggled for the first time in three starts since a 13-day layoff due to a sore shoulder. The lefthander surrendered five earned runs and nine hits over five innings, after being tagged for just two runs in 16 innings of work in winning his previous two starts.

"Command was the biggest thing," Gorzelanny said. "I don't think my changeup was going that well. This whole game I wasn't hitting my spots. I made a bunch of mistake pitches and they took advantage of them."