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  Wednesday, Jun. 7 7:35pm ET
Gant's upper-deck shot sparks Phillies
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Ron Gant even surprised himself Wednesday night.

Gant lifted the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with a tiebreaking homer that he said traveled farther than any ball he'd ever hit.

Ron Gant
Gant

"I couldn't believe I hit it that far," Gant said about the upper-deck shot. "I never hit a ball that far, period. I almost missed first base. I scared myself that it went that far."

Gant's blast in the seventh -- estimated at 439 feet -- was the 55th homer into the left-field upper deck seats in Veterans Stadium history.

"It was unbelievable. It gives you an idea of how strong that man is," said Pat Burrell, who had his first career three-hit game.

Chris Brock (1-4) pitched 1 1/3 innings to win his first game with the Phillies. He retired all four batters he faced.

Jeff Brantley pitched the ninth for his fifth save in as many chances.

Mark Guthrie (1-1) allowed no hits and two walks in his last three outings -- a span of 19 batters -- before Gant's homer. Right-handed hitters were 3-for-20 against him before the homer.

"I was trying to throw it low in the zone and he got it up," Guthrie said. "Obviously, it was a bad pitch."

It was Gant's 10th homer of the season; he hit 17 last year. Gant is batting .371 (13-for-35) in his last nine games after another slow start.

"If you don't stay with him, you're not going to see this," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "He proved a lot to us last year when he struggled. He tries so hard to win regardless."

Burrell, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 draft, entered in a 0-for-12 slump that included seven strikeouts. He gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth.

"I've been trying to make some adjustments," Burrell said. "I finally got something going in the cage and took it into the game."

After Tampa took a 3-1 lead in the fifth, Gant cut it to 3-2 with an RBI double that scored Doug Glanville. Gant moved to third on the throw home and Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal walked to load the bases before Burrell lined a single to left, scoring Gant and Abreu.

Robert Person had allowed just two hits before the fifth. Randy Winn tied it at 1 with an RBI single. Jose Guillen gave the Devil Rays a 3-1 lead with a two-run triple off the right-field wall.

It was Guillen's second triple of the game. His last triple before Wednesday was in May 1998.

Guillen tied it at 4 with a two-out double in the seventh that scored Winn, who had walked. Guillen also prevented a run by throwing out Lieberthal at the plate to end the fifth after Kevin Jordan singled.

"I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself," Guillen said. "They've been telling me to try and relax more and that worked for me. I got some good pitches to hit."

Burrell doubled to lead off the second and scored the first run of the game on a two-out double by Desi Relaford.

Second baseman Mickey Morandini preserved the 4-4 tie in the seventh with a leaping catch on a liner by Vinny Castilla with two outs and runners at the corners. Castilla was the first batter Brock faced.

"Any out is a key out, but that ball was heading to the wall," Francona said.

Game notes
The Phillies activated 3B Scott Rolen after the game and optioned reliever Steve Schrenk to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Rolen was on the disabled list with a sprained ankle. ... Relaford is 12-for-24 with runners in scoring position since May 4. ... Burrell, not known for his defense, made two nice fielding plays in the sixth. ... The Devil Rays had won four straight at the Vet before Wednesday's loss. ... Phillies reliever Scott Aldred underwent successful surgery Wednesday to repair a tear in his left shoulder. He will miss the remainder of the season. ... Abreu extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning single.

 


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