Phillies Beat Pirates 10-5

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Chris Coste hit a three-run homer, Jimmy Rollins drove in three runs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-5 on Saturday night. <br/><br/>J.D. Durbin (3-2) pitched

Saturday, July 28th 2007, 9:12 pm

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Chris Coste hit a three-run homer, Jimmy Rollins drove in three runs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-5 on Saturday night.

J.D. Durbin (3-2) pitched five shaky innings but left with a five-run lead after an eight-run fifth.

In their sixth try, the Phillies (54-49) finally reached a season-best five games above .500 with their seventh win in eight games.

Rollins, batting in Chase Utley's No. 3 spot in the lineup, had three hits and fell a homer short of the cycle. Coste tied a career-high with four RBIs, and new second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 1-for-3 with a walk and sacrifice fly in his first game since joining the Phillies. Iguchi was acquired from the Chicago White Sox on Friday to replace Utley, who had surgery on his broken right ring finger and could miss up to a month.

The Phillies have scored 18 runs in two games without their two All-Star hitters _ center fielder Aaron Rowand and Utley. Rowand (shoulder) is expected to return Sunday.

Durbin allowed five runs, seven hits and four walks in his first outing since pitching his first career shutout at San Diego last Sunday. Brett Myers finished with a perfect ninth in his first appearance since May 23. He had been sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Freddy Sanchez hit a three-run homer for the Pirates, who have the second-worst record in the majors behind Tampa Bay.

Starter Shane Youman didn't record an out in the fifth. He allowed seven runs _ six earned _ and eight hits. Masumi Kuwata (0-2) gave up three runs and four hits in two innings.

Trailing 5-2, the Phillies sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth. Shane Victorino doubled to start the inning and Rollins reached on a bunt single. Ryan Howard walked to load the bases and Pat Burrell walked to force in Victorino. Rollins scored when third baseman Jose Castillo booted Wes Helms' grounder for an error.

Kuwata replaced Youman and allowed Iguchi's sacrifice fly to tie it at 5. Coste ripped the next pitch into the left-field seats to give the Phillies an 8-5 lead.

A fan favorite since making his major league debut as a 33-year-old rookie last season, Coste earned a curtain call from the sellout crowd.

Despite hitting .328 in 198 at-bats last year, Coste started this season in the minors. He could be heading down again when outfielder Jayson Werth comes off the disabled list, though the Phillies could move catcher Rod Barajas instead.

Rollins made it 10-5 with a two-run triple. The 5-foot-8, 174-pound Rollins, normally a leadoff hitter, leads the NL with 243 total bases, including 20 homers and 13 triples. Only Alex Rodriguez has more total bases than Rollins.

Rollins and Coste each had RBI doubles to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Sanchez's three-run shot in the third put Pittsburgh ahead 3-2. Xavier Nady had an RBI single and RBI double.

Notes: The Phillies improved to 15-20 against left-handed starters, including 9-5 in the last 14 games. ... The eight-run fifth was a season-high for an inning for Philadelphia. ... Sanchez tied his career-high with six homers. ... A crowd of 45,149 was the Phillies' 18th home sellout.