Pedro Feliz lifts Phillies to 5-2 win over Dodgers

[August 25, 2008]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pedro Feliz hit a tying RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and delivered a three-run homer with two outs in the 11th to lift the Philadelphia Phillies over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 Sunday night.

The Phillies closed within a half-game of the NL East-leading New York Mets, while Los Angeles remained three games behind Arizona in the West.

After the Phillies rallied off closer Jonathan Broxton in the ninth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th against Chad Durbin (5-2), but couldn't score.

Shane Victorino led off Philadelphia's 11th with a double to left field off Joe Beimel (4-1). Victorino didn't run too hard out of the box, so left fielder Manny Ramirez played it like a routine single. But Victorino turned it on rounding first base and Ramirez had no chance to get him after lobbing a throw to the infield.

Jason Johnson entered and walked Chris Coste. Jayson Werth advanced the runners with a groundout, but pitcher Cole Hamels, batting as a pinch-hitter, popped out to second base.

Feliz hit the next pitch into the seats in left-center for his second career game-winning homer.

Philadelphia has won seven of nine, including three in a row over the Dodgers since losing four straight in Los Angeles less than two weeks ago.

Ramirez and James Loney hit singles and pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney walked to load the bases in the top of the 10th. But Casey Blake grounded into a third-to-home double play -- Ramirez didn't even attempt to get caught in a rundown -- and Russell Martin flied to right to end the inning.

Feliz's two-out single in the ninth off Broxton tied it at 2. Victorino led off with a single to center. After pinch-hitter Andy Tracy walked with two outs in his first appearance in the majors since 2004, Feliz singled to right-center to score Victorino.

Jimmy Rollins grounded out weakly to first base to end the rally. The reigning NL MVP went 0-for-5, dropping him to 4-for-46 (.087) since calling Philadelphia fans "frontrunners" in a television interview.

Both starters pitched well. Hiroki Kuroda allowed one run and two hits, striking out five in six innings. The right-hander held the Phillies to one run and two hits over seven innings in a 3-1 win in L.A. on Aug. 14.

Joe Blanton gave up one run and six hits in six innings. He's 1-0 with five no-decisions since coming to Philadelphia in a trade with Oakland.

Jeff Kent's two-out RBI single in the seventh gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

After showing signs they were breaking out of a long offensive slump by scoring 17 runs in the first two games of the series, the Phillies' once-potent offense was feeble again. But they got key hits when it mattered most.

Philadelphia, which led the NL in runs the previous two seasons, has scored three runs or less in 40.8 percent of its games. The Phillies are 11-42 in those games.

Notes: The Dodgers are 11-11 since acquiring Ramirez. ... Martin batted eighth for the second straight game and third time this season. The All-Star catcher normally bats in the middle of the order.

[Associated Press; By ROB MAADDI]

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