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Burrell stars as Phillies trounce Dodgers

Aug 24, 2008 - 1:16 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer*

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Pat Burrell provided the run support Cole Hamels had been lacking of late.

Burrell homered and drove in five runs and Hamels tossed seven solid innings as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised to their fifth win in six games, a 9-2 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino each added two RBI as the Phillies won their second straight over the Dodgers after being swept of a four-game series at Los Angeles earlier this month.

"Pat was able to spark it," Howard said. "We were able to get it started early, and Cole went out and did his job and shut them down."

"We certainly knew we were fortunate out there when we beat them the four games because they weren't swinging the bats real well," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Burrell did the bulk of his damage against Clayton Kershaw (2-4) with a three-run homer in the first inning and an RBI double in the fifth, when center fielder Matt Kemp lost the ball in the sun. He tied a career high by driving in his fifth run with a single in the sixth off Jason Johnson.

"Burrell had a big day with three hits and five RBI," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He took advantage when (Kemp) lost the ball."

It was Burrell's 10th career five-RBI performance.

Hamels (11-8) limited the Dodgers to two runs and five hits. The lefthander struck out five without a walk, retiring the last eight batters he faced.

Hamels has tossed at least six innings in 14 of his last 15 starts.

"Cole definitely could have won some more games," Manuel said. "He's pitched some good ballgames where he got some losses and where he didn't get any decisions. His record definitely could be better."

While the game featured a pair of talented young southpaws in Hamels and the 20-year-old Kershaw, it also was a battle between two pitchers who have not received much run support this season.

Even though Hamels won his last outing at San Diego, it was only by a 2-1 margin. Prior to that victory, the 24-year-old went seven starts without a win, suffering three losses as the Phillies scored three runs or fewer in five of those games.

"My mind set is to really just focus on preventing runs instead of watching how many runs we have," Hamels said. "I'm not necessarily looking at the scoreboard. I go out there and try to put up zeros. I know if I can do that and we score a couple of runs here and there, then we'll get the victory."

Hamels has pitched a career-high 188 2/3 innings thus far this season, surpassing the 183 1/3 he tossed in 2007.

The Dodgers, who have lost four of five, had scored a total of 27 runs for Kershaw in his previous 14 starts - nine of which resulted in no-decisions.

"We're putting a lot of pressure right now on our pitchers, based on the fact we're not scoring runs," Torre said. "(Kershaw) is still learning."

Burrell quickly staked Hamels to a 3-0 lead with his 30th home run of the season. After Kershaw hit Jimmy Rollins with a pitch and Chase Utley singled, Burrell lined an 0-1 pitch just inside the left field foul pole.

"Tried to double up inside on Burrell and he just hit a good pitch," Kershaw said. "It wasn't over the plate or anything. It was inside, but he just kept his hands inside of it and kept it fair. It was a good piece of hitting."

Russell Martin belted his 12th home run, a two-run shot in the second, to pull the Dodgers within one. However, the Phillies broke open the game with three runs in the fifth.

Rollins led off with a single and Utley walked before Burrell's fly ball was lost in the sun by Kemp, allowing a run to score. Howard then ended Kershaw's day with a two-run double to right-center that gave the Phillies a 6-2 advantage.

"We had a bad break with Matty losing the ball because the game was close at that point in time," Torre said. "We all thought he was trying to deke the baserunners at the time he did it. You certainly don't want to give this ballclub extra outs because they can beat your brains out, and they did it again today."

Kershaw was tagged for six runs and seven hits in four-plus innings. He walked two, struck out five and hit a batter.

The Phillies tacked on three runs in the sixth against Johnson. Victorino's two-run single capped the uprising after Burrell's RBI base hit.