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Victorino, Phillies power past Braves in series opener

Baseball Betting Lines

07/01/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shane Victorino homered and drove in four, and the Philadelphia Phillies downed the Atlanta Braves, 8-3, in the opener of a three-game set.

Kyle Kendrick (8-3) scattered seven hits and three runs over six-plus innings, fanning two and walking two. The Phillies righthander tossed six scoreless frames before allowing three runs in the seventh.

"Kyle pitched great and we did enough offensively," Victorino said. "We haven't put both phases together recently."

Pat Burrell also homered and knocked in two runs for the Phillies, who had dropped nine of 11 prior to this series.

Chipper Jones made a surprise return to the lineup, going 1-for-3 with two walks for the Braves, who have dropped three straight and five out of seven. Rookie Charlie Morton (1-2) was roughed up for five runs on eight hits in two- plus innings to take the loss for Atlanta.

Jones had missed eight straight games with a quad injury and expected to be placed on the disabled list on Tuesday, but apparently showed up at the ballpark feeling good enough to play. His presence wasn't enough for the Braves, however.

After leaving the bases loaded in consecutive innings and allowing the Braves to cut a 5-0 deficit to 5-3, the Phils broke through for three insurance runs in the ninth. Pedro Feliz's sacrifice fly scored Jayson Werth, who had singled, stole second, and advanced to third when Brian McCann's throw sailed into center field.

The Phillies loaded the bases later in the frame, and Victorino singled into left, plating two more runs to extend Philadelphia's lead to five.

Burrell belted his 20th homer of the campaign to left to lead off the second, and the Phillies took control with a four-spot in the third. Jimmy Rollins singled to right to start the inning, and Victorino ripped a line drive over the fence down the line in right for a 3-0 edge.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard laced consecutive singles, and Burrell lined an RBI single to center. Geoff Jenkins then fisted an RBI single to shallow left, the sixth straight Phillies hit, ending the evening for Morton.

Buddy Carlyle came on with two runners on and no outs, and retired the bottom of the Phillies lineup to keep the deficit at 5-0. The Braves bullpen put up six scoreless innings before the ninth.

"You try to the best you can, keep them off the scoreboard and keep your team in the game," Carlyle said. "Hopefully we can get a win tomorrow."

The Phillies loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Jenkins popped up on a 3-0 count, and Feliz grounded into a fielder's choice to keep the lead at 5-0. The Braves came back with three runs in the home half of the frame.

Three straight hits, capped by a two-run double to right-center by pinch- hitter Greg Norton, got the Braves on the board and ended Kendrick's day. J.C. Romero came on and got out of the inning, but not before another run scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Mark Teixeira to pull Atlanta within 5-3.

Game Notes

Struggling Phils starter Brett Myers agreed to be optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. Myers is 3-9 on the season with a 5.84 earned run average...Atlanta outfielder Mark Kotsay also returned to the lineup, as he was activated from the DL on Tuesday after sitting with a back injury. Outfielder Brandon Jones was optioned to Triple-A Richmond...Burrell has hit at least 20 homers in eight straight seasons...Jenkins was in an 0-for-27 slump before his RBI single into left in third.