ABREU'S SLAM STARTS HR TREND
Big Inning Keys Phils Pounding of 'Stros
HOUSTON, May 16 (AP) - Bobby Abreu's grand slam was the first of three
consecutive home runs in a 7-run third inning as the Philadelphia Phillies
hammered the Houston Astros, 11-3, at Minute Maid Park. Abreu's bases
clearing blow was followed by long balls off the bats of Mike Lieberthal and
David Bell and the uprising drove Astros starter Jeriome Robertson (2-3) from
the game. The Phillies never looked back and coasted to the easy win.
Houston scored the game's initial run when Craig Biggio homered leading off the
bottom of the first. The lead was short-lived.
In the top of the second the Phillies scored a pair of runs. Abreu led off
by reaching on an error on Houston left fielder Lance Berkman and advanced to
third when Lieberthal doubled. Bell's sacrifice fly tied the game by
scoring Abreu and then Lieberthal cruised home on Marlon Byrd's two-bagger to
give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.
In the third, the Phillies blew the game wide open. Placido Polanco led
off with a single and moved to second when Jim Thome drew a walk. A wild
pitch moved the runners to second and third and Robertson issued his second free
pass of the inning, this one to Pat Burrell, to fill the bases. Robertson
fell behind Abreu 3-1 and, with the bases loaded, came in with a fastball, which
Abreu drove into the seats in right field for a grand slam and a 6-1 lead.
Lieberthal followed with his fourth home run of the season and Bell belted his
fifth, which ended the day for Robertson. Brandon Puffer took over for the
Astros and retired Byrd and Vicente Padilla for the first two outs of the
inning, but the Phillies weren't quite done scoring. Rollins drew a walk
and moved to second on a wild pitch and then came home on Polanco's double into
the left field corner. Thome flied out to finally end the inning with
Philadelphia on top, 9-1.
It was only the middle of the third, but the game was effectively over.
The Phillies scored solo runs in the fourth and fifth on an RBI double off the
bat of Abreu and a Polanco run-scoring single respectively.
The Astros picked up a pair of consolation runs in the sixth off Padilla,
capping the scoring, when Jeff Bagwell doubled and rode home on Jeff Kent's
seventh home run of the season.
Abreu's grand slam was the third this season by a Phillies hitter. In all
of the majors, only the Chicago Cubs (4) have more. The three consecutive
home runs hit by the Phillies in the third inning mark only the sixth time this
year that the feat has been accomplished in the major leagues.
5/16/2003, Phi03-Hou03, Minute Maid Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Phillies 0 2 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 11 14 1 9 1 2003 Astros 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 7 1 6 0 Phillies AB R H BI AVG Astros AB R H BI AVG Rollins ss 5 2 2 0 .290 Biggio cf 4 1 1 1 .250 Polanco 2b 5 1 4 2 .241 Hunter cf 0 0 0 0 .222 Punto 2b 1 0 0 0 .400 Blum 3b 4 0 0 0 .260 Thome 1b 3 1 0 0 .323 Munro p 0 0 0 0 .000 Michaels pr 0 0 0 0 .375 Bagwell 1b 4 1 1 0 .255 Burrell lf 4 2 1 0 .196 Kent 2b 4 1 1 2 .295 Adams p 0 0 0 0 .000 Berkman lf 4 0 2 0 .333 Mesa p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hidalgo rf 3 0 0 0 .283 Abreu rf 5 2 2 5 .313 Zaun c 3 0 0 0 .154 Lieberthal c 5 2 2 1 .281 Everett,A ss 3 0 1 0 .167 Bell,D 3b 3 1 1 2 .205 Ensberg ph 1 0 0 0 .317 Byrd cf 5 0 2 1 .286 Robertson,J p 0 0 0 0 .300 Padilla p 4 0 0 0 .000 Puffer p 1 0 0 0 .333 Perez,To 1b 0 0 0 0 .379 Merced ph 1 0 1 0 .254 40 11 14 11 Stone p 0 0 0 0 .000 Vizcaino,J ph 2 0 0 0 .164 34 3 7 3 Phillies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Padilla W 5-2 7.0 7 3 3 0 2 88 59 4.08 Adams 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 8 2.29 Mesa 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 25 15 7.94 9.0 7 3 3 1 4 127 82 Astros INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Robertson,J L 2-3 2.0 7 8 7 2 0 67 37 7.46 Puffer 3.0 5 3 3 1 0 54 31 4.15 Stone 2.0 0 0 0 1 1 24 14 5.24 Munro 2.0 2 0 0 2 2 44 23 5.01 9.0 14 11 10 6 3 189 105 Phi: Michaels ran for Thome in the 8th Punto inserted at 2b in the 8th Michaels moved to lf in the 8th Perez,To inserted at 1b in the 8th Hou: Merced batted for Puffer in the 5th Vizcaino,J batted for Stone in the 7th Hunter inserted at cf in the 8th Vizcaino,J moved to 3b in the 8th Ensberg batted for Everett,A in the 9th E-Thome, Berkman. 2B-Rollins(17), Polanco(6), Abreu(14), Lieberthal(5), Byrd(4), Bagwell(7), Everett,A(2), Merced(4). 3B-Berkman(2). HR-Abreu(4), Lieberthal(4), Bell,D(5), Biggio(5), Kent(7). RBI-Polanco 2(10), Abreu 5(25), Lieberthal(14), Bell,D 2(16), Byrd(5), Biggio(20), Kent 2(27). K-Rollins, Burrell, Abreu, Biggio, Berkman, Hidalgo, Zaun. BB-Rollins, Thome 2, Burrell, Bell,D, Perez,To, Zaun. SF-Bell,D. HBP-Hidalgo. HB-Padilla. WP-Robertson,J, Puffer. GWRBI: Byrd Temperature: 87, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 16 MPH. Attendance: 37,465 Game Time: 3:06