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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, July 9, 2007

Victorino lifts Phils

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Philadelphia players pitched in to help the Colorado grounds crew secure a tarp during a rain delay. "I didn't want someone to get suffocated," Shane Victorino said. The Phillies beat the Rockies, 8-4.

JOHN LEYBA | Denver Post

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Shane Victorino

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DENVER — Rockies groundskeeper Keros Johnson was trapped in the middle of an out-of-control tarp.

When he finally crawled out, the wide-eyed Johnson was greeted by a sight he didn't expect — Shane Victorino and Co. attempting to get the tarp under control.

Victorino, a St. Anthony alum from Maui, helped wrangle with the tarp before a rain delay and then hit a two-run homer after the break in Philadelphia's 8-4 win over the Colorado Rockies yesterday.

Talk about good karma.

"That's not why you do things," Victorino said. "I felt like we needed to help, just in case."

The win puts the Phillies' dubious milestone on hold until after the All-Star break. They've lost 9,999 games in franchise history.

Most of the Phillies bench emptied onto the field during the seventh-inning delay, rescuing members of Colorado's grounds crew from underneath the whipping tarp. A strong burst of wind caught hold of it as the crew tried to roll it over the infield.

Victorino grabbed a corner, dug in his feet and pulled it as hard as he could toward left field. Ryan Howard held a section down with a knee. Michael Bourn started heaving sand bags onto the tarp to weigh it down.

"One guy flew 10 feet in the air," said Adam Eaton, who also pitched in. "We were just hoping they're not hurt. They all thanked us. You hear stories about people getting hurt."

Head groundskeeper Mark Razum had never seen anything like the wind gust in 29 years.

"The wind was so strong, we couldn't hold it," Razum said. "When it draped over the guys, I was worried that somebody might suffocate. It was really cool the Phillies came out and gave us a hand."

They didn't give it a second thought.

"At the time, we weren't thinking (injury)," Victorino said. "I don't want someone to get suffocated or that tarp to trap somebody."

Jimmy Rollins had three hits — including two RBI singles — and Pat Burrell hit his 11th homer of the season for Philadelphia.

Eaton (8-5) won for the first time since June 11, going six innings and giving up four runs and eight hits. He also struck out three.

Cardinals 7, Giants 0: Chris Duncan drove in three runs for host St. Louis as the Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 in his final game of the first half and remained at 751 home runs.

Pirates 6, Cubs 2: Jason Bay hit a two-run home run off Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano while driving in four runs as visiting Pittsburgh beat the Cubs.

Nationals 7, Brewers 2: Ryan Zimmerman's two-run homer ignited a six-run rally in the sixth inning as Washington beat visiting Milwaukee.

Reds 4, Diamondbacks 3: Scott Hatteberg's two-out single in the bottom of the 11th inning — his fourth hit of the game — helped Cincinnati complete its first sweep of the season and its first over Arizona since 1999.

Astros 8, Mets 3: Roy Oswalt tossed seven effective innings and Chris Burke hit a two-run homer to lead host Houston over New York. Oswalt (8-5) allowed three runs in seven innings.

Dodgers 9, Marlins 3: Russell Martin hit a two-run homer and Andre Ethier added a three-run shot as host Los Angeles beat Florida.

Braves 5, Padres 4: All-Star Brian McCann homered and drove in four runs as visiting Atlanta beat San Diego. Kelly Johnson also homered and Andruw Jones went 3-for-3 and scored two runs for the Braves.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Tigers 6, Red Sox 5: Gary Sheffield hit one of Detroit's three homers off Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-6), and the host Tigers beat Boston to complete a three-game sweep. Carlos Guillen and Marcus Thames also homered against the Japanese star, who gave up three homers for the first time in the major leagues. Matsuzaka allowed six runs and 10 hits in five innings, which equaled his shortest start in his first major league season.

Yankees 12, Angels 0: Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano hit three-run homers as host New York hammered Los Angeles. Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 30th homer and drove in four runs. Still recovering from a strained left hamstring, he'll sit out today's Home Run Derby in San Francisco but play in the All-Star game the next night.

Mariners 7, Athletics 3: Mariners outfielder Jason Ellison started a four-run rally and then touched off a benches-clearing shoving match in visiting Seattle's win. After Raul Ibanez hit a bases-clearing double, the relay throw from shortstop Bobby Crosby got by A's catcher Jason Kendall. As Oakland starter Joe Blanton tried to retrieve the ball near the Seattle dugout, he shoved Ichiro Suzuki, who had scored on the play. Ellison, the closest player to the incident, apparently took exception and went after Blanton, and the dugouts cleared. Blanton and Mariners pitcher Miguel Batista were ejected from the game.

White Sox 6, Twins 3: Rob Mackowiak, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko homered during a five-run third inning as host Chicago beat Minnesota.

Rangers 2, Orioles 1: Kenny Lofton hit a tiebreaking homer as host Texas claimed another series. The Rangers took two of three games from Baltimore and are unbeaten in seven consecutive series for the first time since 2001, when they also went 6-0-1 during one stretch.

Blue Jays 1, Indians 0: Alex Rios hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Toronto over Cleveland.

Royals 12, Devil Rays 4: Tony Pena Jr. had three doubles and drove in four runs as host Kansas City rolled over Tampa Bay.