MILLWOOD FIRES PHILS' 1ST CG SHUTOUT IN ROUT OF ROX
Polanco Homers Twice, Perez 4 Hits
DENVER, Aug. 7 (AP) - The Phillies reached August without recording a single
complete game shutout but Kevin Millwood ended the dry spell in the most
unlikely of places. Placido Polanco hit a pair of home runs and drove in
four and Tomas Perez swatted four hits and drove home three runs as Philadelphia
pounded the Colorado Rockies, 12-0, at hitter-friendly Coors Field.
Millwood's feat represents only the second time this year that a pitcher has
thrown a complete game shutout in Denver. Mark Prior of the Chicago Cubs
turned the trick at Coors in a 4-0 victory on April 25.
The Phillies scored early and often in this one. Polanco hit his first
home run of the game, a solo shot in the first, off Rockies starter Denny
Stark. In the second inning, Philadelphia made it 3-0 on Perez's two-run
bases loaded single. Bobby Abreu led off the third with his 10th home run
of the season to up the lead to 4-0.
The Phillies then blew the game wide open with an eight-run fifth. Jim
Thome led off with a single to center and Abreu walked. Ricky Ledee's
infield roller led to a force of Thome at third for the first out of the inning
but Stark then balked the runners to second and third. Jimmy Rollins'
sharp grounder was knocked down by shortstop Jose Uribe for an infield single,
scoring Abreu and advancing Ledee to third. That was the end of the day
for Stark; he was replaced on the mound by Adam Bernero, but the onslaught
continued. Todd Pratt made it 6-0 by singling to right and scoring Ledee,
with Rollins stopping at second. Perez then blooped a single just inside
the left field line, plating Rollins and chasing Pratt to third. Millwood
struck out but Byrd reached on an infield hit, scoring Pratt and moving Perez to
third. Polanco then belted his second home run of the contest to give the
Phillies an 11-0 lead. And still the scoring wasn't over. Thome
singled for the second time in the inning and Abreu doubled him to third.
With the game effectively over, Colorado manager Clint Hurdle decided to let
Bernero get out of the inning regardless of the size of the damage. But
before he could, Ledee reached on the third Philadelphia infield single of the
frame, scoring Thome. Rollins grounded to short to finally end the frame
with the Phillies on top, 12-0.
Millwood, meanwhile, was holding the Rockies scoreless and setting a season-high
strikeout mark in the process. Entering this game, Millwood's high mark
for strikeouts was nine, set on June 13 against the Reds in Cincinnati.
But in this game, Millwood (12-7) fanned a dozen Rockies en route to his third
complete game of the season. The 12 strikeouts also represent the largest
total by any member of the Phillies this year. Randy Wolf held the
previous top mark of 11, accomplished twice--in back-to-back starts on June 8
and 14.
Millwood was allowed to throw 153 pitches in the game, the highest total by a
National League hurler this season. Bartolo Colon of the Chicago White Sox
has the top mark in the major leagues this season with 160 pitches in a 6-1
victory over the Cubs on June 22.
8/7/2003, Phi03-Col03, Coors Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Phillies 1 2 1 0 8 0 0 0 0 12 17 1 9 1 2003 Rockies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 9 0 Phillies AB R H BI AVG Rockies AB R H BI AVG Byrd cf 5 1 2 1 .303 Womack 2b 4 0 1 0 .254 Polanco 2b 6 2 2 4 .266 Uribe ss 4 0 0 0 .259 Thome 1b 6 1 2 0 .293 Helton 1b 3 0 2 0 .361 Abreu rf 4 2 2 1 .325 Norton,G 1b 1 0 0 0 .252 Ledee lf 5 2 2 1 .266 Wilson,Pr cf 4 0 1 0 .284 Rollins ss 4 2 1 1 .261 Walker,L rf 3 0 0 0 .292 Pratt c 4 1 1 1 .260 Fuentes p 0 0 0 0 .000 Perez,To 3b 5 1 4 3 .290 Belliard ph 1 0 0 0 .251 Millwood p 4 0 1 0 .118 Payton lf 3 0 0 0 .280 43 12 17 12 Stynes 3b 4 0 2 0 .283 Estalella c 3 0 0 0 .221 Stark p 1 0 0 0 .000 Bernero p 0 0 0 0 .143 Atkins ph 1 0 1 0 .100 Cook p 0 0 0 0 .074 Reyes,R ph 2 0 0 0 .231 34 0 7 0 Phillies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Millwood W 12-7 9.0 7 0 0 2 12 153 92 3.19 9.0 7 0 0 2 12 153 92 Rockies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Stark L 2-3 4.1 8 7 7 3 4 86 50 5.18 Bernero 0.2 7 5 5 0 1 34 25 5.18 Cook 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 22 15 4.86 Fuentes 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 25 19 3.44 9.0 17 12 12 3 8 167 109 Col: Atkins batted for Bernero in the 5th Reyes,R batted for Cook in the 7th Norton,G inserted at 1b in the 8th Reyes,R moved to rf in the 8th Belliard batted for Fuentes in the 9th E-Perez,To. 2B-Abreu(30), Millwood(2), Helton(36). 3B-Stynes(8). HR-Polanco 2(11), Abreu(10). RBI-Byrd(41), Polanco 4(50), Abreu(66), Ledee(36), Rollins(58), Pratt(20), Perez,To 3(23). K-Byrd 2, Rollins, Pratt, Perez,To, Millwood 3, Womack, Uribe 2, Wilson,Pr 2, Walker,L 2, Estalella 2, Stark, Norton,G, Belliard. BB-Abreu, Rollins, Pratt, Payton, Estalella. SH-Millwood. HBP-Byrd. PB-Estalella. HB-Cook. BALK-Stark. GWRBI: Polanco Temperature: 78, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 6 MPH. Attendance: 18,626 Game Time: 3:14