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Wednesday, May 24 8:05pm ET
Abreu, Phils batter Wagner in 9th | |||||
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GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- Bobby Abreu got the big hit, sending the Houston Astros to another big collapse. Abreu's second homer of the game, a two-run shot off Billy Wagner with two outs in the ninth inning, gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 9-7 victory over the Astros on Wednesday night. "Just getting to Bobby, that was the thing," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "Bobby's hit was huge, but just getting to him was it. We strung some things together and we haven't been doing that. "Unfortunately, we've had the opportunity of being down a lot and I didn't feel good about it. You can't give up but you are not going to win a lot of those games. The loss was Houston's second this week after the Astros led by seven runs. They blew a 9-2 lead in the ninth inning at Milwaukee on Monday. Houston led 7-0 before Philadelphia scored two runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and four in the ninth. "It's mystifying," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "We stopped scoring, and it's hard to say anything about the offense, but the people we were facing weren't candidates for Fireman of the Year. They were pretty ordinary pitchers. "But we brought in a guy throwing 97 and 98 miles per hour and they still hit it, you have to give them credit. Anybody in the league would like to have Wagner in that situation. I like it, too, but he's in a slump." It was 7-5 in the ninth before Wagner (1-3) gave up a double to Desi Relaford, an RBI single to Doug Glanville, the two-run homer to Abreu, a single to Mike Lieberthal and a triple by Pat Burrell, making his major league debut It was the fourth consecutive blown save for Wagner, one of the NL's top relievers a year ago for the Central Division champion Astros. "That was a tough situation," Abreu said. "I tried to be patient and I got a fastball away. I knew it had a chance to hit the wall or a home run." The triple by Burrell went over Richard Hidalgo and bounced off the wall in center field, rolling back down the Grassy Knoll. It gave the Phillies a two-run lead over the Astros, 0-12 in one-run games this season. "That's about as about as good as I could hit it," Burrell said. "I tried to hit it far enough that he couldn't make a play." Wayne Gomes (2-4) pitched two innings for the victory, and Jeff Brantley pitched the ninth for his third save. Hidalgo hit a two-run homer in Houston's five-run first inning, and Jeff Bagwell and Daryle Ward also homered as the Astros built the 7-0 lead. The Astros got four straight hits off Curt Schilling in the first inning, including RBI singles by Bagwell and Ken Caminiti. Ward followed with a sacrifice fly before Hidalgo's 14th homer. Burrell, the first pick in the 1998 amateur draft, broke up Octavio Dotel's shutout with his first major league hit, an RBI single in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Kevin Jordan added a sacrifice fly in the inning. Glanville hit a two-run homer to chase Dotel in the seventh, and Abreu's solo homer made it 7-5 in the seventh. The six homers in the game increased the total at Enron Field this year to 77, just 41 fewer than all last season at the Astrodome. Dotel didn't allow a hit until Jordan led off the fifth with a single just out of third baseman Caminiti's grasp. Mickey Morandini followed by hitting into a double play. Solo homers by Bagwell and Ward boosted Houston's lead to 7-0 and chased Schilling in the fifth. Shilling allowed eight hits, seven earned runs and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings. Dotel pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowed four earned runs, and struck out five. Game notesBurrell's parents, John and Mary, were present for their son's major league debut. ... Craig Biggio's second-inning single gave him 2,847 total bases, surpassing first base coach Jose Cruz's franchise record. Biggio is 26 hits away from Cruz's 1,937 career hits. ... Phillies outfielder Ron Gant has hit 29 of his 272 career home runs against the Astros. ... The Phillies have hit 38 home runs this season, still the fewest in the NL. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Philadelphia Clubhouse Houston Clubhouse RECAPS Baltimore 4 Seattle 3
Philadelphia 9
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