Rollins, Phils edge Mets for seventh straight time

Sep 15, 2007, 12:42 GMT

Flushing, NY - Jimmy Rollins' triple past Carlos Beltran in center field scored two runs to put the Phillies in front in the eighth inning, as Philadelphia won its seventh straight from the New York Mets, 5-3, at Shea Stadium.

Rollins drilled a pitch that Beltran moved in on before seeing the ball soar over his head and roll to the base of the wall. Chris Roberson and Pete Laforest each scored for the 5-3 lead, and Rollins rolled into third before shaking his hips in excitement at the Phillies dugout.

'I was playing shallow because I was thinking about the guy on second base,' said Beltran. 'I took one step forward and after that I just didn't regroup. Just a bad read.'

'It actually took off low and the sun was literally behind the lights,' said Rollins. 'It wasn't high and sunny. All things considered, I'm thankful for it.'

Earlier in the frame, Aaron Rowand hit his 24th home run of the season off Pedro Feliciano to square the contest. Jorge Sosa (9-7) was hit with the loss after giving up both runs in the eighth.

The Phillies bullpen continued its mastery of the Mets, pitching four scoreless frames following Kyle Lohse, who started on the hill and surrendered three runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts through five frames.

Antonio Alfonseca (5-1) pitched a flawless seventh and Brett Myers nailed down his 17th save with an adventurous ninth. Myers put two runners on base with one out, but the right-hander struck out David Wright, and Beltran flied out to right to end the game.

Philadelphia moved within 4 1/2 games of New York in the division race but remains 1 1/2 games back of the Padres in the wild card standings. San Diego beat San Francisco, 6-0, on Saturday.

Rowand finished with three hits and two RBI for the Phillies, who last won seven straight against the Mets from September 3, 2004 to April 18, 2005.

'We let them slowly get back into the game and it just exploded late in the game,' said Wright. 'Everyone needs to step their game up, including me. We have to do a better job of putting these guys away when we have the chance.'

Pedro Martinez started on the mound for the Mets and pitched well. The right- hander, who was sidelined until September 3 while recuperating from rotator cuff surgery, gave up just one run on seven hits with nine strikeouts over six innings.

'Pedro had 100-something pitches. Any pitcher is going to leave the game. Today, I'm glad he did,' said Rollins. 'He hit his spots, he threw good sliders and he established a strike at the knee and threw the changeup below that.'

Beltran finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI in the loss, New York's third in four games.

The Phillies grouped three hits together in the first to take the early lead. Chase Utley singled with one out before Ryan Howard laced a two-out base hit to right. Martinez ended up striking out the side, but Rowand's bloop that dropped just inside the right-field chalk scored Utley a batter earlier for the 1-0 lead.

New York squared the contest in the bottom of the second. Beltran started the frame with a double and moved to third on Moises Alou's infield single. Lohse then walked Shawn Green to load the bases with nobody out before Paul Lo Duca hit a dead double play ball to Utley, who decided to get the force at home instead.

Lohse then hit Lastings Milledge to force in a run, but recovered to strike out Martinez and force a Jose Reyes pop out to end the frame.

The Mets took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third with Luis Castillo slapping a single to center and stealing second before scoring on Beltran's single. The center fielder then stole second and third, eventually crossing the plate on Lo Duca's base hit to right.

Philadelphia drew within 3-2 in the seventh as Tadahito Iguchi came on as a pinch-hitter and looped a double down the rightfield line. Rollins followed with a hot shot off the glove of Green at first for an error, scoring Iguchi with the club's second run.

Game Notes

The Mets recalled infielder David Nehan, shortstop Anderson Hernandez, and pitchers Joe Smith and Brian Lawrence from Triple-A New Orleans...The Phillies have hit at least one home run in 31 of their last 33 games against the Mets. They have 54 home runs during that span...Martinez's last start against the Phillies came on August 14, 2006 at Citizens Bank Park. The right-hander was on a pitch count of roughly 100 pitches, throwing 98 during his six innings...Alou extended his hitting streak to 19 games...The Mets stole six bases, two each by Reyes and Beltran. Reyes was also caught twice...Rollins stole two bases for the Phillies...Attendance was 55,477.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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