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| Feliz caps comeback as Phillies surprise Astros PHILADELPHIA 4, HOUSTON 3 |
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By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Jose Valverde needed less than an inning to ruin a masterpiece by Shawn Chacon. Pedro Feliz lined a double to score Geoff Jenkins from first base and cap a four-run ninth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday. With Houston ahead, 3-0, Valverde (2-1) started the ninth in place of Chacon, who allowed only four singles and two walks with five strikeouts in eight scoreless innings. "Shawn did a great job. He deserved a lot better than the way it ended up tonight," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "But Jose's our guy. He's our closer. And we were in the right situation. He just didn't make any pitches at all." Pinch hitter Chris Snelling hit Valverde's first pitch into the right field seats for a home run to get Philadelphia on the board. Valverde then hit Chase Utley with his next pitch before coming back to strike out Ryan Howard. "(Valverde) threw a first-pitch fastball down and in to the pinch hitter Snelling, and he put a good swing on that pitch," Cooper said. "We dodged a bullet (when) we got Howard. He just didn't make his pitches." However, Pat Burrell lined an 0-1 offering from Valverde over the right field wall for an opposite-field, two-run homer that tied the game at 3-3. "(Valverde) throws hard, so I know the main objective is to keep the line rolling," Burrell said. "Chase gets hit (by a pitch), so I'm up there with one out trying to get a hit or get on base however I can so you can just bring more guys to the plate." Jenkins was the next batter and struck out swinging but reached first base after the ball got away from catcher Brad Ausmus. Feliz then roped a 1-0 pitch down the line in left to score Jenkins, who ran through a stop sign at third and slid in safely just ahead of Miguel Tejada's relay throw. "I was just running full speed and I just put my head down," Jenkins said. "I guess it was the right move. I knew it was close, but obviously, I went nuts because (the umpire) called me safe. Great comeback win." "I didn't want it (to end) like this," Valverde said. "We should have won, 3-0." Rudy Seanez (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Phillies to notch the win after two scoreless innings by Chad Durbin. Adam Eaton started and went six innings, allowing three runs and seven hits. He walked two and struck out three in notching his third quality start in as many outings. Chacon, a 30-year-old journeyman who entered the game with a career record of 43-58, was making his first start against the Phillies since August 5, 2003, when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies. "I had my sinker working and was throwing it for strikes," Chacon said. "I was playing to their aggressiveness and really just made pitches in the bottom of the zone." Philadelphia was hoping to have Jimmy Rollins back in the starting lineup, but the reigning National League MVP still was bothered by a sprained left ankle. He made a pinch-hitting appearance in the eighth inning and grounded out weakly to third. The Astros mounted a two-out rally in the first inning to open the scoring. Tejada had an RBI single to right-center to give Houston a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Philadelphia was unable to generate any offense. The Phillies hit leadoff singles in the third and fourth innings, but both runners quickly were erased by double-play grounders. "We had a couple of innings where we got a leadoff guy on but just couldn't get anything else started," Burrell said. "It's a shame that for as good a team that we have, (we needed) to wake up in the ninth inning. We just couldn't get anything going. Chacon pitched pretty well." Houston added two runs in the sixth to take a three-run lead. Geoff Blum had a run-scoring single and Hunter Pence followed with a sacrifice fly. |
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