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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHILADELPHIA -- Bobby Abreu has certainly added excitement
to the leadoff spot.
|  | | Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu is congratulated after his game-winning inside-the-park homer in the 10th Sunday. |
Abreu homered twice, including a game-winning, inside-the-park
homer in the bottom of the 10th inning, to lead the Philadelphia
Phillies to a 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
"That was a lot of fun," said Abreu, who answered the curtain
call after the game.
The Phillies won two of three from the Giants and moved into
fourth place for the first time since April 17.
Abreu hit the second pitch from Aaron Fultz (3-2) to deep center
field. Calvin Murray made a leaping attempt but couldn't make the
catch. The ball caromed away from Murray and Abreu circled the
bases.
"I was probably only one of a handful that was thinking 'No,
no, don't send him home,' " Phillies manager Terry Francona said.
"I thought it was going to be really close at the plate.
"Bobby scored that run right out of the box. As soon as he hit
it, he went full-blast. If you can't get excited about that game,
you're comatose."
Murray chased the ball down but Abreu slid in safely ahead of
second baseman Jeff Kent's relay.
"It came off the bat pretty good and I went after it hard like
any other time," Murray said. "It bounced off my glove, hit the
wall and got away from me."
It was the Phillies first extra-inning, inside-the-park homer
since Bob Dernier did it on May 15, 1989, also against the Giants.
"I've only seen it happen twice in my life," said Baker, who
was a coach on that team. "Maybe it's a good omen, we went to the
World Series the last time I saw it."
The last game-winning inside-the-park game-winning homer was New
York Yankees' Derek Jeter on Aug. 2, 1996 at Kansas City.
Ed Vosberg (1-0) worked out of a second-and-third, two-out jam
in the 10th to get the victory.
Phillies starter Bruce Chen set down the first six batters
before he got into trouble in the third. Ramon Martinez doubled to
left and scored on Doug Mirabelli's single to center to give the
Giants a 1-0 lead.
From there, Chen was in total command. He retired the next 14
batters in order before he walked Russ Davis in the seventh. Davis
was quickly erased on a pickoff.
Chen got three straight outs in the eighth, but didn't survive
the ninth. Bill Mueller led off with a walk and moved to third on a
sacrifice bunt and a fly ball. Barry Bonds walked and Chen was
gone.
Chris Brock came into the game, hit Kent to load the bases
before striking out Rich Aurilia to end the threat.
Chen allowed one run, two hits and three walks in a career-high
8 2-3 innings. He struck out seven.
"I feel more comfortable every time I go out there," Chen
said. "It was one of those games that I got into a flow and it
felt great."
Abreu hit his first homer in the sixth off Mark Gardner to tie
the game at 1. He has 20 homers on the season.
Since moving to leadoff on Aug. 20, Abreu is hitting .406 with
13 hits in 32 at-bats.
"I'm just trying to do my job the best I can," Abreu said.
"I'm taking a lot of pitches and trying to drive the ball the
other way. But, if I can turn on a pitch, that's still part of my
game."
Gardner held the Phillies hitless until Mike Lieberthal singled
in the fourth inning. He allowed one run, three hits and three
walks in six innings.
It was a bad day all around for the Giants, who failed to pick
up a game in the West Division standings. The team couldn't leave
Philadelphia immediately because the charter plane was having
mechanical problems.
"It's been a tough day," Baker said.
Notes: Phillies 2B Marlon Anderson made a great over-the-shoulder
catch in shallow center field in the fourth inning, robbing Russ
Davis on a hit. ... Abreu is a .357 hitter in August _ his best of
any month. ... Bonds was 1-for-8 with five strikeouts in the
series. ... Gardner has posted a 0.91 ERA over his last three
starts. ... Vosberg's last win was Sept. 2 1997 while pitching for
the Marlins.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
RECAPS
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