Phillies rally for 9th inning win

DENVER (AP) - April 22, 2008 Corpas (0-1) was two outs away from the save when Burrell sent a 2-2 fastball past diving center fielder Willy Taveras in the gap in left-center.

That made a winner of Ryan Madson (1-0), who threw a scoreless eighth. Brad Lidge struck out two of the three batters he faced for his fourth save in as many chances.

It was the third straight game the Rockies lost when leading after seven innings.

Garrett Atkins had staked Colorado to a 6-4 lead when he sent Brett Myers' 100th pitch into the left-field seats for a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh. Atkins, who also hit a two-run homer against Philadelphia on Monday night, connected off an 0-1 fastball after Matt Holliday had drawn a walk with one out.

Holliday also homered off Myers, his shot to straightaway center field breaking a 3-3 tie in the fifth.

Until Corpas' third blown save in seven tries, Jeff Francis was in line for the win after allowing four earned runs and six hits over seven innings, including Jayson Werth's solo homer in the seventh that tied it at 4. Three of the four walks he issued came in the fourth inning, when the Phillies took a 3-1 lead.

Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs' RBI single off Matt Herges in the eighth made it 6-5.

In the ninth, Corpas allowed a leadoff single to So Taguchi, struck out Werth, then gave up a single to Chase Utley, who took second on the throw to third. Ryan Howard, hitting .190, drew an intentional walk to load the bases and bring up Burrell, who took Myers off the hook for the loss.

Myers, who allowed six runs, all earned, and 11 hits in seven innings, is 6-0 in seven career appearances (six starts) against the Rockies, including 4-0 in five starts at Coors Field.

Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, mired in a 1-for-16 slump that dropped his batting average to .165, was replaced in the starting lineup by Clint Barmes, who was hitting .400 and had been playing second base in place of slumping rookie Jayson Nix.

With Barmes moving to shortstop, Jeff Baker got the start at second base.

The juggling didn't pay off in the field. In the fourth inning, Pedro Feliz reached on a groundball up the middle that both Baker and Barmes dived for but couldn't reach. Then, Barmes failed to touch the bag on what should have been an easy 6-4-3 double play.

Francis still could have escaped unscathed but walked the pitcher to load the bases, then walked Taguchi to put the Rockies in a 3-1 hole.

Baker atoned in the bottom of the inning, knocking in Brad Hawpe, who had tripled, with an infield single. He came around to score on Taveras' double, tying it at 3.

Baker had a throwing error in the sixth before being replaced in the lineup by Tulowitzki, who grounded out in his only at-bat.

Notes: Barmes went 1-for-5 and Baker went 2-for-3. ... Utley saw his home run streak halted. He had gone deep in five straight games, tying a club record held by Bobby Abreu, Mike Schmidt and Dick Allen. ... Taveras broke three bats on pitches from Madson in the eighth.

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