Tuesday, September 07, 1999
Astros 6, Phillies 5
PHILADELPHIA — Jose Lima became the National League's first 19-game winner Monday night as pinch-hitter Russ Johnson hit a three-run homer in the sixth to give the Houston Astros a 6-5 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Johnson, pinch-hitting for Lima (19-7) with two on and three runs already in, hit a 1-1 pitch from Randy Wolf (5-7) that barely cleared the wall in left for a 6-4 lead.
Lima allowed three earned runs and eight hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked one as the Astros maintained a 21/2-game lead over Cincinnati atop the NL Central.
Billy Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for this 34th save in 37 chances.
The Phillies, battered by a major league-record 14 homers in the last two games against the Reds, have lost 10 of 11 and 21 of 28.
Wolf allowed only one homer before a pitiful Labor Day crowd of 12,223, but it was the decisive hit of the game. The 23-year-old left-hander allowed six runs and six hits in six innings, walking four and striking out four. He allowed only one hit in the first five innings before falling apart.
With one out in the sixth, Ken Caminiti hit his first triple since 1996 and scored on Derek Bell's RBI single to cut it to 4-1. Caminiti was decoyed and slowed down while approaching third, flopping awkwardly into the bag.
Matt Mieske doubled off the center-field wall to make it second-and-third, and Tony Eusebio hit a two-run single to center to cut it to 4-3. Ricky Gutierrez walked before Johnson hit his first career pinch homer.
The Phillies had second-and-third with no outs in the sixth and the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh and scored only one run. Alex Arias' fielder's choice groundout scored Kevin Jordan, who was hit by a pitch from Brian Williams leading off the seventh, to make it 6-5.
Doug Glanville led off the eighth with a double into the right-field corner against Jay Powell, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple on a relay from Bell to Craig Biggio to Caminiti.
Abreu, second to Larry Walker in the NL batting race, hit the 15th homer into the right-field upper deck at Veterans Stadium in the third. Abreu, who has 19 homers, was 1-for-4 and is batting .348.
Notes: In a scheduling quirk, this was the first game of the season between the teams. ... The Phillies activated RHP Carlton Loewer from the 60-day DL and transferred LHP Yorkis Perez from the 15-day to the 60-day DL. ... New York's John Olerud was the last player to hit an upper-deck homer to right at the Vet, on May 14, 1999 against Chad Ogea. ... Phillies 3B Scott Rolen missed his 11th straight game with a back injury. ... Abreu is 2-for-6 against Lima with two homers.
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