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  Sunday, Sep. 17 1:35pm ET
Wolf delivers 7 strong innings for Phillies
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- There is no wall in sight this time around for Randy Wolf.

Randy Wolf
Randy Wolf shook off this solo homer by Preston Wilson to win his first start since Aug. 26.
The Phillies' left-hander pitched seven strong innings and Bobby Abreu hit his 24th homer to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-5 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday.

"It was one of my strongest starts, physically, of the season," Wolf said. "I felt great and that's a far cry from how I felt last year at this point. I kind of hit the wall down the stretch last season.

"It also shows that I did something right during the offseason, working out and getting stronger. It's paying off now."

Wolf (11-7) allowed two runs and five hits, struck out five and walked none to win for the first time in four starts since Aug. 26.

"He's a different pitcher than he was last year," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "He has proven to be a good major league pitcher that's only going to get better. Randy's got a great outlook and he's starting to figure out how to be effective up here."

Wolf had four 1-2-3 innings and retired 21 of 25 batters.

"Wolf was real good," Florida manager John Boles said. "He changed speeds well and has a good fastball."

Jeff Brantley came in with a 6-2 lead in the ninth and allowed an RBI single to Mike Lowell and a two-run double to Cliff Floyd, then walked pinch-hitter Andy Fox.

Reliever Thomas Jacquez struck out Mark Kotsay, who was 10-for-19 before the at-bat, to end the game for his first major league save.

"I was pretty pumped up," Jacquez said. "(Francona) just told me to get the out. That's it."

Chuck Smith (4-6), who had won his previous two decisions, gave up three runs and four hits in five innings, struck out seven and walked three. He has 34 strikeouts in his last 28 innings.

Abreu hit a two-run homer in the first, and Jimmy Rollins led off the third with a triple for his first major league hit. But Smith struck out Philadelphia's 3-4-5 hitters on 10 pitches.

Marlon Anderson hit an RBI double in the third, but Philadelphia stranded runners on second and third when Smith fanned Reggie Taylor and Rollins.

Florida got a run in the sixth when pinch-hitter Dave Berg doubled and scored on a wild pitch. Preston Wilson's 28th homer cut it to 3-2 in the seventh.

Philadelphia took a 6-3 lead in the seventh as Pat Burrell hit a run-scoring single off Vladimir Nunez, and Kevin Jordan had an RBI single off Armando Almanza. An error by catcher Mike Redmond allowed another run to score.

"You can second-guess the pitching changes all you want, but sometimes things just happen," said Boles, who used five pitchers in the game.

Game notes
Taylor (CF) and Rollins (SS) were called up from Triple-A Scranton and were in the starting lineup. Rollins was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Taylor was 0-for-5 and three strikeouts. ... Six of the Phillies' starting position players spent time in the minor leagues this season. ... It was Smith's shortest outing since he pitched five innings in a 12-4 loss to Atlanta on July 27. ... Wilson's 28 homers and 115 RBI are the second-highest total in Marlins history. Gary Sheffield set team records with 42 homers and 120 RBI in 1996.
 


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