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Burrell homers to power Phils past Diamondbacks

Jul 13, 2008 - 10:08 PM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- In the battle of aces, Brandon Webb outdueled Cole Hamels, but it was a player overlooked for the All-Star Game who delivered the deciding blow.

Pat Burrell snapped an eighth-inning tie with a three-run home run off Chad Qualls to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the rubber match of a three-game series Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

Qualls (2-7) came on for Webb to start the eighth and promptly gave up singles to Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Burrell then drove a 2-2 pitch into the left-center field seats for his 23rd home run and a 5-2 Phillies lead. One out later, Pedro Feliz homered to left to make it 6-2.

"That's just the frustrating part about this game," Qualls said. "I thought I threw some pretty good pitches. The big hit by Burrell (was on a pitch) down and away. He kind of hit it off his knee, one-armed it. Even the pitch to Feliz, he guessed right on that one.

"Nine out of 10 times I go out there and throw (to) those locations, I'm gonna have a 1-2-3 inning. It just was not a good day."

Burrell finished third in the fans' online vote for the final roster spot on the National League All-Star team. The leftfielder has 57 RBI to go along with a .275 batting average and leads the team in on-base percentage (.404) and walks (69).

"I'd say I'm doing pretty good," Burrell said. "I haven't had any periods where I really struggled for very long. I haven't really swung the bat good in the last four or five days, but I haven't gone through those stretches where it's been two or three weeks.

"The goal is to try to be as consistent as possible throughout the year. I think for the most part I've been that way."

Ryan Madson (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up the win, which guaranteed that Philadelphia (52-44) would remain in first place in the NL East Division entering the break.

"It is the All-Star break, but we've got a lot of baseball left and there are a lot of things we can do to improve," Burrell said. "Hopefully, the time off gives guys a chance to regroup, focus and get ready for a strong second half."

Webb entered the contest with a 13-4 mark and was aiming to become the first pitcher to reach 14 wins this season as he gets ready to represent the Diamondbacks in his third consecutive All-Star Game on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

"(Webb) is a mainstay for us," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Every time he goes out there, we get a real consistent effort as we did again today. He's been as consistent as any pitcher in baseball and that's why he's got the record that he does and that's why he's going to the All-Star Game."

Both starters went seven innings and neither factored into the decision. Webb gave up two runs and seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Hamels allowed two runs, scattering 11 hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

"I was pretty happy with my outing that I had. No walks today," Webb said.

"Knowing that you're going up against a tough lineup and especially a tough pitcher, who is doing very, very well definitely gets your intensity up," Hamels said.

However, Arizona failed to build on a 2-1 lead when it put its first two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings against Hamels and did not score.

Jimmy Rollins tied it in the bottom half of the seventh with a two-out, RBI double off Webb.

"It's too bad we were in a situation where Rollins gets the hit to tie the game up," Melvin said.

Chad Tracy gave Arizona a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his fifth home run of the season. With one out, Tracy lined a 1-2 pitch into the right field seats.

The Diamondbacks used a two-out rally in the fourth to tack on another run. Chris Young dropped a bunt single in front of Hamels before Chris Burke reached on an infield single to third. Robby Hammock followed with an RBI single to make it a 2-0.

After Randy Johnson ignited an eight-run frame for Arizona in its 10-4 win on Saturday, Hamels attempted the same thing in this game when he got the Phillies on the board with an RBI double in the fifth. Webb then hit Rollins with a pitch, but kept the score at 2-1 by retiring the next two batters.

"Hits are great, but pitching is my number one key," Hamels said. "If a can score a guy, I think it's gonna help."