"Victori"-ous 4th for the Phils
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - July 4, 2008 Duaner Sanchez (3-1) retired the first two batters before Pedro
Feliz doubled to left field. Victorino followed with a liner to
right on a 1-2 pitch to score Feliz and send a sellout crowd into a
frenzy.
The NL East-leading Phillies have won four straight after losing
13 of 18.
Brad Lidge (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth and Philadelphia's
stellar bullpen tossed 4 1-3 scoreless innings. Chad Durbin retired
the seven batters he faced, striking out six, after replacing
starter J.A. Happ in the fifth. Ryan Madson threw a scoreless
eighth.
Johan Santana again had nothing to show for a strong outing.
Santana gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings. The
two-time AL Cy Young Award winner is 0-4 in his last six starts
despite a 2.48 ERA in that span.
The inconsistent Mets fell 5½ games behind the Phillies, though
both teams know that's a short lead in July.
The Phillies battled the Mets to the final day of the regular
season last year, overtaking New York to win their first division
title in 14 years. The Mets had a seven-game lead with 17
remaining, before their historic collapse.
New York backed Santana with two runs in the fifth but the
Phillies tied it in the sixth. Jayson Werth and Chase Utley hit
one-out singles. After Jimmy Rollins flied out, Ryan Howard and Pat
Burrell delivered back-to-back RBI singles.
Happ allowed two runs and three hits in 4 2-3 innings in his
second career start. Happ was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley
to replace opening-day starter Brett Myers, who was demoted this
week after struggling all season.
The left-hander's only other start came against the Mets last
year. He gave up five runs in four innings and took the loss.
Happ ran into trouble in the fifth. Damion Easley led off with a
single and Ramon Castro followed with a ground-rule double to
right. After Chris Aguila walked to load the bases, Santana fouled
out. Jose Reyes then hit into a fielder's choice, beating out the
relay throw from second to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
Happ then walked Endy Chavez to reload the bases and walked
David Wright to force in the second run after barely missing on an
0-2 pitch that would've ended the inning. Durbin came in and fanned
Carlos Beltran to strand three runners.
Notes: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel juggled his starting lineup
so left-handed hitters Utley and Howard wouldn't bat back-to-back
against the Mets' lefty-rich staff. Utley moved up to the No. 2
spot with Jimmy Rollins going from leadoff to No. 3 and Howard
stayed in the cleanup slot. ... Santana has never lost five
straight decisions.