Jayson Werth steals home in the seventh inning.
Werth, who got on base with a single to left,
swiped second and third, before heading home.
Jayson Werth was feeling frisky last night. That's what his manager said, and that's how Werth looked on the bases during the Phillies' 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park.
The rightfielder equaled a team record with four steals, including a swipe of home, and the Phils outpitched, outhit, outran and outfoxed an excellent Dodgers team.
"I'm very happy beating the Dodgers," said Chan Ho Park, who pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs. "Not because they're my former team, but because they're the best team and they've got the best record of any team in the major leagues."
Echoed Werth: "They're the best in the West right now, so it's a big win."
Werth's final steal of the evening, a seventh-inning swipe of home with Pedro Feliz batting, underscored the team's impressive performance. Werth said that first-base coach Davey Lopes had recently spoken to him about more aggressively seeking base-stealing opportunities. Noting the suggestion, he stood on third and watched catcher Russell Martin ignore him after the first pitch of the at-bat.
"On the first pitch, he didn't look at me," said Werth. "So I figured if we got to two strikes and he didn't look at me, I was going to go."
When that situation arrived, Martin remained on his knees and threw the ball casualty back to pitcher Ronald Belisario. Werth dashed toward home, beating the throw and drawing visceral cheers from surprised teammates and fans, who cheered until he made a curtain call.
"Jayson timed him down," said a smiling Charlie Manuel. "I was just as surprised as you were. I saw him going and I said, 'What's going on?' . . . I guess he was feeling frisky and had a lot of energy, so he wanted to run."
That energy led Werth to tie Garry Maddox (1978) and Sherry Magee (twice in 1906) for a team record with his fourth steal. He became the first Phillie to swipe home since, yes, Carlos Ruiz on June 22, 2007.
The run was made relevant by Park's second quality outing in as many starts. The 35-year-old has endured many questions lately about his status in the rotation, and answered some in his previous appearance, a 1-0 loss last Wednesday to the New York Mets.
Early last night, Park seemed headed for a setback. Juan Pierre led off the game with a booming double to right field and was driven home by Orlando Hudson's one-out single. Andre Ethier followed with a double to deep left field, but was stranded. Park benefited from two fortunate outs in the inning: Rollins caught a sizzling Rafael Furcal liner, and Hudson was tagged out in a rundown between first and second after hitting his single.
But pitching skill replaced luck in the second and carried Park through the remainder of his appearance. "That definitely helped him to get out of that first inning with only one run," Manuel said. "That definitely played a big part in the game. . . . The last two starts, he's kind of coming into his own in terms of command."
Although the Dodgers were without their marquee player, Manny Ramirez, because the slugger is serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, Park and the Phils emphatically took a game from a team that is among the best in baseball.
