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| Johnson's error, Victorino help Phillies edge Braves PHILADELPHIA 4, ATLANTA 3 (10 INNINGS) |
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ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Braves finally caught a bad break at home. Shane Victorino and the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies will take them any way they can get them. An error by Atlanta second baseman Kelly Johnson allowed the tying run to score in the ninth inning, and Victorino delivered an RBI triple in the 10th as the Phillies rallied for a 4-3 triumph over the Braves on Friday. With two on and two outs in the ninth, Chris Coste popped up the first pitch he saw from Blaine Boyer for what appeared to be the final out. Johnson settled under the ball near the line in shallow right field for what should have been the game-ending catch. But as the giant video scoreboard in center field notched an X for the Braves' bottom of the ninth, signaling what appeared to be another home win, the ball popped out of the palm of Johnson's glove, allowing pinch runner Eric Bruntlett to score the tying run from second base. "It just didn't stick," a dejected Johnson said. "It hit the palm. It's probably the one part (of the glove) where it's going to pop up. "It's just one of those things that did happen. It's not supposed to happen. It's probably the worst feeling that somebody can feel while on the baseball field." Braves manager Bobby Cox could not recall the last time he saw his starting second baseman make that kind of defensive miscue. "I've never seen him drop a pop-up, that I recall," Cox said. "We're all allowed one." A frazzled Johnson picked up the ball and threw out Pedro Feliz at the plate as he was attempting to score from first, but Atlanta's reprieve was only temporary as Philadelphia rallied for two runs in the 10th to surge ahead. Pinch hitter Chris Snelling led off with a double against Manny Acosta (3-4) and, after a sacrifice by reigning National League MVP Jimmy Rollins, Victorino followed with his second triple of the night to plate pinch runner So Taguchi. "He got the big hit," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "He played a big role in the game." Royce Ring relieved Acosta and was greeted with Chase Utley's RBI double, which gave the Phillies a 4-2 lead. Victorino then preserved the win for Philadelphia with his defense. Yunel Escobar's two-out single to center field off Brad Lidge with runners on second and third scored Josh Anderson. But Victorino made a perfect throw to catcher Coste, who tagged Gregor Blanco just in time to end the game. "I knew I had to charge the ball and get rid of it," Victorino said. "I knew it would be a close play. I just wanted to give the catcher a chance." "At the end, it was a close play," Blanco said. "Could be out or could be safe. (Plate umpire Alfonso Marquez) made the right call." With the victory, Philadelphia improved to 13-4 over its last 17 games. Tom Gordon (5-2) picked up the win after working around a hit and a walk in the ninth and Lidge notched his 16th save despite surrendering a run and three hits in the 10th. "You have to have the force with you to win one like that," Lidge said. "I was the happiest guy out there." Meanwhile, the Braves dropped to 3-17 in one-run contests this season. And they had no one to blame other than themselves for this one. In addition to Johnson's miscue, Atlanta squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the third and failed to execute a squeeze play in the sixth. Escobar easily was thrown out at the plate after tagging up at third on a shallow liner to left in the seventh. "You can't try to give away a game as much as we had tonight," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "Bad baserunning, not executing a squeeze, and the defense was not good at a critical time." The lapses spoiled a strong performance by Tim Hudson, who limited the Phillies to one run and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. The righthander, who left his previous start with a hamstring injury, walked four and struck out three. "It's a tough one to swallow," Hudson said. "They just have a break go their way at the end. At home, the breaks are supposed to go our way." Philadelphia starter Jamie Moyer also pitched well, yielding just two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 frames. The 45-year-old lefthander, who had won his previous four outings, issued three walks and recorded four strikeouts. Utley gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout in the first inning. But Brian McCann launched a two-run homer, his 12th blast of the season, in the sixth to put the Braves ahead. Blanco and Jones each collected two hits for Atlanta, which had lost just four of its previous 22 home games. Jones raised his major league-leading average to .421, marking the latest is a season a player has been over .400 since 1997, when Colorado's Larry Walker batted .422 and San Diego's Tony Gwynn sported a .409 average through 62 games. |
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