Phillies Win Despite 9th Inning Fiasco

Thursday, May 24th 2007, 7:31 am

By: News On 6

For the Phillies, the ninth-inning toll Wednesday night included two ejections, two defensive gaffes, an injury to Brett Myers and a blown four-run lead. They regrouped in the 10th, when Abraham Nunez singled home the tie-breaking run with two outs for an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins.

``I've seen a lot of crazy things in baseball,'' Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. ``It ranks with the rest of them.''

``The weirdest inning of all time,'' center fielder Aaron Rowand said.

``It was a mess,'' catcher Rob Barajas said.

The Phillies led 7-3 going into the ninth and brought in Myers. After Dan Uggla drove in two runs with a triple, Hanley Ramirez bunted to first baseman Greg Dobbs, who decided against taking the sure out at first and instead went home. His ill-advised throw was too late for a play on Uggla, allowing Ramirez to reach and making the score 7-6.

``I still can't grasp what I did,'' Dobbs said. ``It might be the stupidest play in the history of baseball.''

Ramirez scored the tying run in the ninth when he slid under Barajas, who stood waiting with the ball but failed to crouch low enough to make the tag for the game's final out. Barajas and Manuel disputed the call and were ejected, but Manuel later acknowledged TV replays showed Ramirez was indeed safe.

``I couldn't believe we didn't get the guy at the plate,'' Manuel said.

Two pitches later, Myers threw a wild pitch, immediately grabbed his arm above the elbow and quickly departed for the clubhouse.

``It didn't feel right,'' he said. ``I felt weird out. It was one of those things where, `I'd better not throw another pitch. Something might happen.'''

Myers might return to Philadelphia for further examination, the Phillies said.

In other NL games, it was: New York 3, Atlanta 0; St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 3; Washington 12, Cincinnati 7; Colorado 2, Arizona 0; San Francisco 9, Houston 1; San Diego 2, Chicago 1; and Los Angeles 5, Milwaukee 1.

The Phillies got their revenge in the 10th.

Jimmy Rollins led off the with a single, advanced on Rowand's bloop single and took third when center fielder Alfredo Amezaga misplayed the ball for Florida's third error.

Nunez's single off Kevin Gregg (0-2) scored the unearned run. He finished 2-for-3 with three walks and three runs scored.

Clay Condrey (2-0) replaced Myers. With the bases loaded, Todd Linden lined to Condrey, sending the game into extra innings.

Condrey pitched a scoreless 10th, and the Phillies climbed to .500 for the fourth time in the past week. They haven't been above .500 all season.

Because they won, the Phils were sheepish rather than distraught.

``It feels like a win,'' Manuel said. ``I don't know how, but we got it.''

Mets 3, Braves 0

At Atlanta, Oliver Perez pitched seven strong innings and David Wright hit his fourth homer in the last four games for New York, which increased its lead over Atlanta in the NL East to 2 1/2 games.

Perez (6-3) gave up only four hits and two walks in seven innings. Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his 11th save.

Chuck James (4-4) gave up seven hits and three runs in 4 2-3 innings.

Nationals 12, Reds 7

At Cincinnati, Ryan Church returned to Washington's lineup with a pair of homers and a career-high six RBIs, keeping the Nationals on their offensive tear.

The Nationals hit a season-high four homers during their biggest run splurge in more than a year. Brian Schneider and Ryan Zimmerman also homered.

Kyle Lohse (1-6) lost his sixth straight start.

Jason Simontacchi (2-2) got his first road victory.

Cardinals 5, Pirates 3

At St. Louis, Kip Wells ended a seven-game losing streak with seven strong innings and was backed by home runs by David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds and Chris Duncan.

All of the homers came off Ian Snell (4-3), who had allowed only two in 58 2-3 innings all season.

Wells (2-8) allowed one earned run on five hits in seven innings. Jason Isringhausen got the last five outs for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Rockies 2, Diamondbacks 0

At Phoenix, Colorado's Jeff Francis allowed five singles in seven innings to improve to 7-1 lifetime against Arizona.

Francis (3-4) allowed only two runners to reach second base. He walked two and struck out four. Brian Fuentes got three outs for his 13th save in 14 chances.

Doug Davis (2-6) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings.

Ryan Spilborghs drove in Jamey Carroll for both runs on a double and a single.

Padres 2, Cubs 1

At San Diego, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer and David Wells allowed one run in seven innings.

Kouzmanoff homered off Sean Marshall (0-1) to put San Diego ahead 2-1 in the seventh inning. It was his second homer in two games.

Wells (2-2) allowed five hits as he won his first game since April 24. He walked two and struck out five.

Giants 9, Astros 1

At San Francisco, Bengie Molina had four RBIs and the Giants completed a three-game sweep of Houston.

Molina had two hits including his fourth career triple, and Ray Durham added two RBIs for the Giants, winners of four straight. Barry Zito (4-5) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings.

Barry Bonds got the night off. He still needs 10 home runs to match Aaron's career mark of 755.

Matt Albers (1-4) allowed four runs and four hits, walking five in 6 1-3 innings.

Dodgers 5, Brewers 1

At Los Angeles, Brad Penny pitched seven scoreless innings, and Russell Martin tied a career high with four RBIs for Los Angeles.

Penny (6-1) scattered six hits, striking out four and walking two to lower his ERA to 2.26.

Chris Capuano (5-3) lost his third straight start, allowing four runs and eight hits over four innings with no walks and four strikeouts.