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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It hasn't taken long for Scott Rolen to make
a difference since returning from the disabled list.
Rolen, who missed 14 games with a sprained left ankle, broke a
tie with a two-run single Tuesday night as the Philadelphia
Phillies spoiled Chuck Smith's major league debut with a 4-3
victory over the Florida Marlins.
Rolen also got the key hit in his first game back last Friday --
a three-run homer in a 9-5 victory over Baltimore. The Phillies are
2-2 since he returned to the lineup.
"It's a huge relief to get a clutch hit," Rolen said. "That's
how you win ball games. If you can execute, get guys over with
outs, you have a chance to get clutch hits."
Ron Gant had three hits, including a homer and drove in two runs
as the Phillies beat Florida for the second time in six games.
Philadelphia was 11-2 against the Marlins last season.
Smith left after Florida took a 2-1 lead in the top of the
seventh. But Gant tied it with an RBI single off Joe Strong (0-1)
before Rolen's bases-loaded single against Armando Almanza made it
4-2.
Wayne Gomes (3-4) pitched 1 1-3 innings. Jeff Brantley allowed a
pinch-hit home run by Derrek Lee leading off the ninth before
closing for his sixth save in as many chances.
Gant gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first with his 11th
home run _ a blast off the facing of the upper deck in left field.
He extending his hitting streak to 10 games, and is batting .400 in
that span (18-for-45).
"I have good balance up there, feel comfortable, feel like
there's nothing the pitcher can overpower me with," Gant said.
Smith, acquired in a three-way deal from Texas last Friday,
spent nine years in the minors before making his first start. The
30-year-old right-hander allowed one run and six hits in six
innings. He struck out six and walked three.
"I was kind of nervous," Smith said. "I'm not used to seeing
a Ron Gant. It was a real experience."
Robert Person allowed one run and five hits in six innings. He
struck out seven and walked two.
Person, who doesn't have a decision in his last three starts, is
5-2 with a 3.25 ERA. He has emerged as the ace on a staff that
includes Curt Schilling and Andy Ashby, who have combined to make
five All Star teams, but are 3-11 this season.
"Last year, I snuck up on people," Person said. "I have to
prove it's not a fluke."
Alex Arias doubled to lead off the seventh against Strong. One
out later, Doug Glanville hit an infield single and moved to second
on a wild pitch. Gant's single tied it at 2, and put runners on the
corners.
Almanza entered the game and walked Bobby Abreu before Rolen
ripped a single past a diving Andy Fox at third base.
"The play of the game was Glanville," Phillies manager Terry
Francona said about the infield hit. "That was an out off the bat.
If he doesn't hustle, we don't have an opportunity to get the
clutch hits."
Glanville beat first baseman Kevin Millar to he bag when Strong
failed to cover.
"He never moved," Florida manager John Boles said about
Strong. "That was a momentum change."
Florida took a 2-1 lead in the seventh on Mark Kotsay's RBI
single. Mark Smith led off the inning against reliever Mark
Holzemer with a pinch-hit, ground-rule double that fell between Pat
Burrell and Abreu.
After Luis Castillo's sacrifice, Smith scored on Kotsay's single
to right through a drawn-in infield.
Florida had tied it at 1 in the second on Millar's eighth homer.
The Phillies nearly took the lead in the second, but Preston
Wilson gunned down Mickey Morandini on a close play at the plate to
end the inning after Arias had singled to center.
Morandini slid headfirst past the plate as his batting gloves _
which had been in his hand _ flew across the plate. But catcher
Paul Bako applied the tag before Morandini could sneak his hand
back in.
Person allowed two hits after the second inning and retired 10
of 11 at one point, including seven straight. He escaped a
bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth by striking out Bako.
Game notes
Kotsay's double in the first inning gave him hits in five
straight at-bats. He flied out in the third to end the streak. ...
The Phillies have homered in 10 straight games; their longest since
homering in 12 straight July 2-17 of 1997. The club record is 14,
set in 1922. ... Philadelphia is 1-9 on Tuesdays.
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