• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Phillies rally to post sixth straight win over Mets

Sep 15, 2007 - 5:16 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Paul Lo Duca lost his cool, Mike DiFelice lost a pop-up and the New York Mets ultimately lost yet another game to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pinch hitter Greg Dobbs hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as the Phillies capitalized on an error by DiFelice behind the plate to edge the Mets, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

Chase Utley hit a two-run homer for the Phillies, who won their sixth straight against the Mets. The Phillies swept a four-game series at home from August 27-30 after salvaging the finale of a four-game set here on July 1.

With the win, the Phillies (78-69) climbed within 5 1/2 games of the first-place Mets (83-63) in the National League East Divison with 15 contests remaining. Philadelphia also remained 1 1/2 games behind San Diego (79-67) in the NL wild card race.

What began as a pitcher's duel between Tom Glavine and Jamie Moyer ended with an unusual sequence of events that put Dobbs in position to drive in the go-ahead run.

"It seemed to keep working out in our favor," Dobbs admitted.

Jayson Werth singled off Aaron Heilman (7-7) to open the 10th. Carlos Ruiz attempted to sacrifice and popped the ball into the air in foul territory, but DiFelice - who had just replaced the ejected Lo Duca - dropped it for an error.

"I wouldn't say it's a routine play, but it's one I need to make," DiFelice said.

Given another chance, Ruiz dropped a successful bunt that Heilman threw into center field. The runners advanced on a sacrifice by Abraham Nunez, and Dobbs followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right-center field that plated Werth with the winning run.

"We had to get a guy to second. We ended up doing it," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of his team's second chance.

Tom Gordon (3-2) picked up the win after striking out three of the four batters he retired. Brett Myers set down the side in order in the 10th for his 16th save.

"That was a big win. No matter how it led up to it, we fought for it," Myers said. "We've lost games like that."

Lo Duca argued a called third strike to end the ninth and was ejected with his back turned to plate umpire Paul Emmel.

"If you're going to throw me out, throw me out to my face," Lo Duca said.

Glavine and Moyer, a pair of 40-something lefthanders, faced off for the third time this season. They had never met before this year, even though they have combined for more than four decades in the major leagues.

Glavine recorded another fine outing, allowing two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings with no walks and one strikeout. In his last four starts, Glavine has allowed a mere two runs in 27 2/3 frames.

Moyer was just as good, allowing only two runs and four hits in seven innings and giving some rest to a depleted bullpen.

"I don't know if it's the Mets. Every game means something at this point," Moyer said. "If we want to be in the postseason, we have to win a lot of ballgames."

Gordon, the Phillies' third pitcher, relieved J.C. Romero with two outs in the eighth but hit David Wright with a pitch to load the bases. However, he struck out Carlos Beltran to escape unscathed.

Glavine cruised into the sixth before Nunez walked and Utley hit his 20th home run of the season with two outs to tie it at 2-2. It was the first home run allowed by Glavine in 56 2/3 innings, his longest stretch since 1997.

The blast also gave the Phillies five players with 20 or more homers for the first time in franchise history. Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Aaron Rowand also have reached the mark this season.

It led to another successful night against the Mets, who missed a chance to reduce their magic number for clinching the NL East to single digits.

"This race isn't over until they're mathematically eliminated," Wright said. "They're backed into a corner and they came out swinging."

Wright opened the scoring with his 29th home run with two outs in the first off Moyer. He also helped keep the game tied with a key defensive play in the eighth.

Moyer bunted a pitch into the air and Wright charged in from third to make a diving catch. He then got up and threw to first base to double off Nunez.

Moises Alou had an RBI single in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest by a Met this season, and increase New York's lead to 2-0. The base hit scored Luis Castillo, who had singled before stealing second and third.