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Feliz earns Phillies extra-inning win over Dodgers

Aug 25, 2008 - 6:40 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Pedro Feliz got to play hero twice in one night.

After tying the game with two outs in the ninth inning, Feliz belted a three-run homer in the 11th to give the Philadelphia Phillies a dramatic 5-2 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.

With the Phillies down to their last out in the ninth against Jonathan Broxton, Feliz delivered a single to right field to plate Shane Victorino and tie the game at 2-2. Two innings later, the 33-year-old Feliz - who entered the contest as a defensive replacement at third base in the seventh - stepped to the plate again with runners on second and third and two outs.

"I was on the bench, ready to go at any time," Feliz said. "I was working in the (batting) cage during the game and trying to get ready. Finally, I get to go in the game and finish it up that way."

Finish it up he did.

Facing Jason Johnson, Feliz launched the righthander's first offering into the seats in left-center field, giving Philadelphia its sixth win in seven games.

"I got (two runners on), two outs, so I tried to put the ball in play," Feliz said. "That (pitch) was a fastball in the middle."

The blast made a winner of Chad Durbin (5-2), who loaded the bases with none out in the 10th but wiggled out of trouble with the help of Feliz, who fielded a grounder by Casey Blake and started a 5-2 double play. Durbin then induced a flyout by Russell Martin to escape unscathed.

"We had a number of opportunities to do some damage," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We just couldn't make the most of our chances."

Victorino sparked both late-inning rallies for the Phillies (71-59), who climbed within one-half game of the New York Mets (72-59) for first place in the National League East. Victorino singled in the ninth and doubled in the 11th.

With the contest even at 2-2, Victorino opened the 11th by hitting a pitch from Joe Beimel (4-1) into left field and hustling to second base for a double as Manny Ramirez failed to get much on his throw.

"When I hit the ball I didn't see (Ramirez) in the picture right away," Victorino said. "He went after it, but as I got to first, I saw he was not there yet, so I was going to take a chance."

Johnson came on for Beimel and walked Chris Coste before Jayson Werth advanced the runners with a groundout to second.

Cole Hamels, Saturday's winning pitcher for the Phillies, batted for Durbin but lifted a weak pop-up to second baseman Pablo Ozuna. Feliz then swatted his 13th homer of the season to send Philadelphia to victory.

It was Feliz's second career walk-off blast, with his first coming on July 25, 2003 as a member of the San Francisco Giants.

"(Feliz) came up in big situations when we needed him," Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard said.

The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on James Loney's one-out RBI single with the bases loaded. However, Los Angeles failed to increase its advantage as right fielder Werth made a nice running catch on Nomar Garciaparra's shallow fly down the line and Blake struck out.

Los Angeles also failed to capitalize against Joe Blanton in the second. With two outs, left fielder Pat Burrell misplayed Matt Kemp's deep fly into a double. Kemp then stole third base, but Andre Ethier flied out.

Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda ran into some trouble in the bottom of the inning, when he walked Victorino and hit Werth with a pitch one out later. But the Japanese righthander retired the next two batters to end the frame.

The Dodgers had two on and none out in the fifth, but Blanton escaped the jam by retiring Ethier on a grounder and getting Jeff Kent to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Philadelphia tied the contest in the bottom half, when Carlos Ruiz led off with a single for the Phillies' first hit of the night and went to second on Blanton's sacrifice. One out later, Chase Utley plated Ruiz with a base hit to right-center.

Los Angeles let Blanton off the hook one final time in the sixth after getting two more baserunners with two outs. Howard, not known for his defense, made a diving catch while fully extended on Martin's foul pop-up for the third out.

Kent gave the Dodgers a 2-1 edge in the seventh, completing a two-out rally with an RBI single off Ryan Madson.

Kuroda worked six innings, allowing a run and only two hits - both singles. The 33-year-old walked two and struck out five while also hitting a batter.

Blanton, who is just 1-0 in seven starts for the Phillies since being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in late July, yielded a run and six hits in six frames. The righthander walked three, struck out four and hit a batter.

"I just tried to keep pitching," Blanton said. "I tried to attack the (strike) zone with a lot of different speeds and keep it close."

Kent went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Los Angeles (65-65), which remained three games behind Arizona (68-62) in the NL West.

"We're in a must-win situation every day," Torre said. "We went from having a wonderful homestand to playing catch up here. We really need to force the issue as far as winning ballgames."