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  Friday, Jul. 21 7:05pm ET
Pirates rookie shuts down Phillies
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Jimmy Anderson has improved immeasurably by moving just a few inches.

Anderson, a rookie, allowed only three hits in eight innings and Mike Benjamin drove in three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 Friday night

Anderson (3-5) walked three, hit a batter and struck out five in his second straight solid start since making a change in his delivery. Anderson allowed three hits and one unearned run in 6 1/3 innings at Los Angeles on Sunday.

The difference? Anderson shifted to the third-base side of the pitching rubber, taking a suggestion from pitching coach Pete Vuckovich. The idea was raised before but Anderson resisted. When a 1-5 record landed him back in the minors, he was more receptive to change.

"Hey, I was struggling, so you'll do anything to try and get better," Anderson said. "I got sent down so I had to give it a try. When I step across, I step across toward the middle of the plate and it's easier now for me to work both sides of the plate."

Anderson, trying to solidify a spot in the rotation, has not completed a game in 18 major league starts. He was pulled after throwing 123 pitches.

"If I thought that was the only shutout he was ever going to pitch in the big leagues, I would have let him start the ninth," manager Gene Lamont said. "But if he throws like that, he has a chance to pitch a few shutouts."

Bruce Aven's two-run double highlighted a four-run first inning against Paul Byrd (2-8). The first six batters reached against Byrd, 1-6 in his last 10 starts. Pittsburgh loaded the bases when Warren Morris walked, Jason Kendall was hit by a pitch and Wil Cordero singled. Brian Giles hit an RBI single and Aven doubled down the left field line. The fourth run scored on Benjamin's infield grounder.

"Everything I threw was chest-high," Byrd said. "I just took us out of the game in the first inning."

There was mild controversy when Kendall was hit. Byrd nailed Kendall last season, then complained that Kendall deliberately dives into pitches to get on base. That prompted Kendall to say, "Who is Paul Byrd?"

Byrd was later hit by Anderson. The pitch glanced off his left hip in the third inning.

"They're protecting their player and I understand that," Byrd said. "But I wasn't throwing at him in the first inning. You don't want to walk the first guy, then hit the second guy and put him on base, too. A person in the stands might not understand that but a baseball person would."

Kendall, who glared out at Byrd after he was hit in the back, didn't seem to buy the explanation.

"A few weeks ago in Philadelphia, he threw one right at my face," Kendall said.

John Vander Wal led off the third with his 13th homer, an inning after Kendall's single and errors by left fielder Ron Gant and shortstop Desi Relaford led to an unearned run.

Benjamin doubled in two runs in the eighth and Kendall doubled in Benjamin to make it 9-0.

Philadelphia avoided being shut out for the third time this season when Gary Bennett hit a two-run homer in the ninth -- his first this season against Marc Wilkins.

Game notes
Bennett caught his second game of the season for the Phillies with Mike Lieberthal on the disabled list because of a sprained ankle. Bennett's only other major league homer was Aug. 5, 1999, at Florida. ... Byrd's only win in his last 10 starts came against Pittsburgh on July 1 during the Phillies' three-game home sweep. ... The Pirates were two players short. 1B Kevin Young went home to Arizona for a family medical emergency and shortstop Pat Meares went home to Kansas, where his wife was due to deliver their second child. Young might miss the entire weekend series. ... Vuckovich completed a two-game suspension he received for making contact with umpire John Hirschbeck at New York on June 23.
 


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