Hours after the Phillies put NL MVP Jimmy Rollins on the 15-day disabled list, his much-maligned backup saved the day.
For one game-saving play at least, Eric Bruntlett seemed a suitable replacement for the MVP.
Bruntlett made a diving stop on Carlos Beltran’s hard grounder up the middle with two outs in the ninth and runners on first and second. Bruntlett threw out Beltran at first, likely preventing the tying run from scoring in the Phillies’ 5-4 win over the Mets on Sunday night.
“Did I think it was through? He had it all the way,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
At Philadelphia, Chase Utley hit two home runs and Pedro Feliz added a tiebreaking pinch-hit homer in the seventh to help the Phillies avoid a sweep.
Utley went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs and the Phillies snapped a four-game losing streak against the Mets.
In other NL games, it was: Atlanta 6, Los Angeles 1; Houston 6, Colorado 4; Cincinnati 4, Milwaukee 3, 10 innings; San Francisco 8, St. Louis 2; Chicago 13, Pittsburgh 6; San Diego 9, Arizona 4; and Florida 6, Washington 1.
Bruntlett’s play helped Brad Lidge escape a shaky ninth for his third save. J.C. Romero (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings for the win.
Bruntlett went 1-for-4 and is only batting .186 this season subbing for Rollins. He’s been booed because of his lack of production at the plate, but his one dazzling play on the final pitch of the game was enough for him to leave the field to a standing ovation.
“That’s as big as they come,” Bruntlett said.
Feliz led off the seventh with the decisive homer off Pedro Feliciano (0-1) and sent the crowd of 45,173 – the largest of the season – into a frenzy.
“I just want to show people what I can do for the team,” Feliz said.
Phillies and Mets fans taunted each other all weekend, with finger pointing, derisive chants and even some fights making it feel more like an Eagles-Cowboys game than a late-April series between the NL East rivals.
The Mets fans who made the trip went wild when their team scored four runs in the sixth to tie the game.
“We battled back. It’s going to be like this all year with these guys,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said.
Phillies starter Adam Eaton, who had a 5-0 career mark against the Mets, quickly lost his shutout bid in the sixth. Jose Reyes hit a leadoff triple and scored on Luis Castillo’s RBI single. David Wright doubled and Carlos Beltran’s two-RBI single up the middle made it 4-3 and chased Eaton.
Ryan Church tied the score with an RBI single off reliever Chad Durbin.
That would be all the runs for the Mets, while the Phillies had one more clutch swing left in them.
“We felt the momentum change and we put up some runs to tie it, but it just wasn’t in the cards,” Church said.
Utley carried the offensive load and his homers seemed as if they might be enough to carry the Phillies.
He hit a two-out, solo shot in the first off Mike Pelfrey, making him the first Phillie to homer in four straight games since Howard did it at the end of last season.
Pelfrey, who gave up 10 hits and four runs in five innings, threw almost nothing but fastballs. With two on and none out in the fifth, Utley sat on a heater and rocked one off the foul pole net in right. His major league-leading eighth homer of the season made it 4-0, and Utley popped out of the dugout for a quick wave.
Braves 6, Dodgers 1
At Atlanta, Jair Jurrjens (2-2) pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Mark Teixeira homered and the Braves beat Los Angeles for their first sweep of the Dodgers in eight years.
The Braves gave up a total of three runs in defeating the Dodgers three times. Atlanta’s last sweep over Los Angeles came in a three-game set in April 2000.
Padres 9, Diamondbacks 4
At Phoenix, Justin Huber connected off Randy Johnson for his first career home run, ruining the Big Unit’s second start and helping San Diego snap a four-game losing streak.
The Padres had mustered a total of six runs in their previous four games, all losses. They scored that many against Johnson, who had back surgery last year.
Astros 6, Colorado 4
At Houston, Kaz Matsui hit a two-run single in the eighth inning against his former team, helping the Astros end a three-game losing streak.
Hunter Pence led off the eighth with a single and Mark Loretta walked against reliever Brian Fuentes (0-1), who allowed a run for the first time in 10 appearances this season.
Cubs 13, Pirates 6
At Chicago, Aramis Ramirez tied a career high with four hits, including a two-run homer, and Chicago swept Pittsburgh in a three-game series for the second time this season.
Ryan Theriot added four hits, scored three runs and drove in two as Chicago won for the 11th time in 14 games. With Saturday’s 13-1 drubbing, this was the first time the Cubs scored 13 or more in back-to-back games since they did it against Florida and Atlanta on July 20-21, 2003.
Reds 4, Brewers 3, 10 innings
At Cincinnati, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Bako hit consecutive homers off Eric Gagne in the 10th inning, and Ken Griffey Jr. followed with a run-scoring single for the Reds.
Cincinnati won for only the second time in its past nine games.
Giants 8, Cardinals 2
At St. Louis, Bengie Molina hit three doubles and drove in three runs, and San Francisco beat St. Louis to win the season series 4-3.
John Bowker hit his third career home run, all against the Cardinals, and Aaron Rowand drove in two runs as the Giants handed St. Louis its first series loss of the season.
Marlins 6, Nationals 1
At Miami, Scott Olsen allowed only three hits in seven innings and Hanley Ramirez hit two home runs for Florida.
Olsen (3-0) gave up one run, won his third start in a row and lowered his ERA to 2.60. Last year the left-hander went 10-15 with an ERA of 5.81, highest of any pitcher in the National League with at least 162 innings.
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