Werth steals the show

Jayson Werth(notes) stole second, then third.

When Dodgers pitcher Ronald Belisario(notes) ignored him dancing down the third-base line in the seventh inning, Werth knew it was time to complete the stolen base cycle and dash for home.

Werth was safe at the plate on the rare steal of home plate and tied the Philadelphia team record of four stolen bases in a game in the 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“I just saw an opportunity, really,” Werth said. “Fortunately it worked out.”

Werth’s four steals were one more than he had all season. They tied a club record set by Sherry Magee on July 12 and Aug. 31 in 1906, and Garry Maddox on May 29, 1978.

“I guess he was feeling frisky or had a lot of energy,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He wanted to run.”

It was another jolt in a game full of surprises for the Phillies. Jimmy Rollins(notes) was dropped from his customary leadoff spot to fifth and ended an 0-for-13 skid with an RBI single.
And Chan Ho Park(notes) (1-1) had his second straight effective outing after a dreadful start this season. He started pitching more like he did in spring training when he won a spot in the rotation. Park walked none and gave up two runs in six innings.

Brad Lidge(notes) gave up a run in the ninth to make it 5-3, but still earned his fifth save.

“That was pretty cool. That doesn’t happen very often,” Lidge said of Werth’s steal.

No Phillie had stolen home since 2007, and Pete Rose was the last one to steal three bases in an inning (1980).

Ryan Howard(notes) stole his third career base and the Phillies had a total of six.

“That’s our style of game,” Werth said.
Park was in danger of losing his spot in the rotation when he pitched past the fifth inning only once in his first four starts and had a bloated 8.57 ERA. He allowed one hit in six shutout innings in his last outing at New York and followed that with another confidence-boosting performance against the NL West leaders.

He survived a shaky three-hit first inning that put the Dodgers ahead 1-0. But he retired seven straight in one stretch that included two swinging strikeouts in the second.

The Phillies scored three times in the fourth to go ahead 4-2 and give Park his first win since last July 23, when he was a reliever for the Dodgers.

In the first meeting for the teams since last year’s NLCS, Werth singled and Howard walked to open the inning against Clayton Kershaw(notes) (1-3). Rollins singled and tied the score at 2.Raul Ibanez(notes) made it 4-2 with the double to left-center.

Werth’s steal of home gave the Phillies a 5-2 lead and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

He had a one-out single in the seventh, then stole second and third. He stole third base in the fourth.

“It wasn’t on Russell not doing a good job, they were just gauging our pitches,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “We were aware of (Werth) but he picked our pocket anyway.”

Rollins entered the game batting only .195 so Manuel decided to shake up the lineup by dropping the former NL MVP in the lineup. Shane Victorino(notes), who had an RBI groundout in the third, batted at the top of the order for the Phillies.

Manuel declined to say if the move was a one-time deal or if the lineup change would continue indefinitely.

Rollins didn’t complain about the move and said he would bat wherever needed. Then he added, “I’m a leadoff hitter.”

“That’s what I do,” Rollins said. “It doesn’t matter what the numbers say. I’m going to produce.” ^Notes: Juan Pierre(notes) started for Ramirez in LF for the fifth straight game after starting only five of the Dodgers’ first 29 games. … The Dodgers scored their 37th first-inning run—the best in baseball. … Manuel won his 370th game with the Phillies, tying him for seventh with Burt Shotton on the team’s career list.