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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Jimmy Anderson has improved immeasurably by
moving just a few inches.
Anderson, a rookie, allowed only three hits in eight innings and
Mike Benjamin drove in three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat
the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 Friday night
Anderson (3-5) walked three, hit a batter and struck out five in
his second straight solid start since making a change in his
delivery. Anderson allowed three hits and one unearned run in 6 1/3
innings at Los Angeles on Sunday.
The difference? Anderson shifted to the third-base side of the
pitching rubber, taking a suggestion from pitching coach Pete
Vuckovich. The idea was raised before but Anderson resisted. When a
1-5 record landed him back in the minors, he was more
receptive to change.
"Hey, I was struggling, so you'll do anything to try and get
better," Anderson said. "I got sent down so I had to give it a
try. When I step across, I step across toward the middle of the
plate and it's easier now for me to work both sides of the plate."
Anderson, trying to solidify a spot in the rotation, has not
completed a game in 18 major league starts. He was pulled after
throwing 123 pitches.
"If I thought that was the only shutout he was ever going to
pitch in the big leagues, I would have let him start the ninth,"
manager Gene Lamont said. "But if he throws like that, he has a
chance to pitch a few shutouts."
Bruce Aven's two-run double highlighted a four-run first inning
against Paul Byrd (2-8). The first six batters reached against
Byrd, 1-6 in his last 10 starts. Pittsburgh loaded the bases when
Warren Morris walked, Jason Kendall was hit by a pitch and Wil
Cordero singled. Brian Giles hit an RBI single and Aven doubled
down the left field line. The fourth run scored on Benjamin's
infield grounder.
"Everything I threw was chest-high," Byrd said. "I just took
us out of the game in the first inning."
There was mild controversy when Kendall was hit. Byrd nailed
Kendall last season, then complained that Kendall deliberately
dives into pitches to get on base. That prompted Kendall to say,
"Who is Paul Byrd?"
Byrd was later hit by Anderson. The pitch glanced off his left
hip in the third inning.
"They're protecting their player and I understand that," Byrd
said. "But I wasn't throwing at him in the first inning. You don't
want to walk the first guy, then hit the second guy and put him on
base, too. A person in the stands might not understand that but a
baseball person would."
Kendall, who glared out at Byrd after he was hit in the back,
didn't seem to buy the explanation.
"A few weeks ago in Philadelphia, he threw one right at my
face," Kendall said.
John Vander Wal led off the third with his 13th homer, an inning
after Kendall's single and errors by left fielder Ron Gant and
shortstop Desi Relaford led to an unearned run.
Benjamin doubled in two runs in the eighth and Kendall doubled
in Benjamin to make it 9-0.
Philadelphia avoided being shut out for the third time this
season when Gary Bennett hit a two-run homer in the ninth -- his
first this season against Marc Wilkins.
Game notes
Bennett caught his second game of the season for the
Phillies with Mike Lieberthal on the disabled list because of a
sprained ankle. Bennett's only other major league homer was Aug. 5,
1999, at Florida. ... Byrd's only win in his last 10 starts came
against Pittsburgh on July 1 during the Phillies' three-game home
sweep. ... The Pirates were two players short. 1B Kevin Young went
home to Arizona for a family medical emergency and shortstop Pat
Meares went home to Kansas, where his wife was due to deliver their
second child. Young might miss the entire weekend series. ...
Vuckovich completed a two-game suspension he received for making
contact with umpire John Hirschbeck at New York on June 23.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
RECAPS
Chi. White Sox 8
Boston 5
Kansas City 4
Detroit 0
NY Yankees 11
Tampa Bay 1
Baltimore 9
Toronto 5
Minnesota 2
Cleveland 1
Anaheim 12
Oakland 3
Seattle 12
Texas 3
Chicago Cubs 4
Milwaukee 2
Montreal 7
Florida 3
Pittsburgh 9
Philadelphia 2
Arizona 5
Cincinnati 4
Atlanta 6
NY Mets 3
St. Louis 12
Houston 1
San Diego 5
Colorado 1
Los Angeles 6
San Francisco 5
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