GaryMrMets
06-30-2004, 02:33 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/9036513.htm
Posted on Tue, Jun. 29, 2004
Bell goes full cycle against Expos
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
AFTER DAVID BELL ripped his cycle, he credited not Grandpa Gus, who rolled one with the Pirates on June 4, 1951, against David's current team, the Phillies.
He didn't nod to daddy Buddy, who never got one in his 18 seasons in the majors.
Nope.
Bell credited Red Sox ace Curt Schilling.
The Phillies' third baseman found himself scuffling a bit before Sunday's game in Boston, so he told himself to keep things simple.
Sure enough, he singled and homered off Schilling.
"Sometimes, when you simplify, things go better," Bell said.
Do they ever.
Thus righted, he provided, in last night's 14-6 win over the Expos at Citizens Bank Park, a template for hitting that the team followed. Bell doubled off starter Sun-Woo Kim in the second, smacked a three-run homer off reliever T.J. Tucker in the Phils' six-run fourth inning, started the scoring in the five-run sixth with an RBI single off Claudio Vargas and, in the seventh, launched a contested two-run triple off Rocky Biddle that nearly hit a fan leaning over the centerfield fence and gave him a career-best six RBI.
Brad Wilkerson and Expos manager Frank Robinson contended that the fan's hat or arm might have deflected the ball off the fence. They lost their argument, thereby keeping Larry Bowa from defending Bell's feat.
"I'd have had to argue," Bowa said, noting that Bell's 13 triples in nine seasons make a cycle for the plodding third baseman lightning in a bottle. "The way David runs, I don't think that's going to come up too often."
Given the Phillies' history, it won't. Bell's was the eighth Phillies cycle and the first since Gregg Jeffries' on Aug. 25, 1995, against the visiting Dodgers. It is the third cycle in the majors this season, though Bell only abashedly accepted congratulations (and the bottle of chilled Dom Perignon from equipment manager and traveling secretary Frank Coppenbarger).
"I'd have rather had two home runs," he said. "It's neat because it's rare."
What's rarer is the Phillies' putting together that six-run fourth and the five-run sixth. They needed all of those runs to protect foundering No. 1 starter Kevin Millwood, who fell behind, 3-0, after two innings and gave up five runs in six innings, but still moved to 6-5 and recorded a season-high nine strikeouts.
Millwood's struggles might be cyclical. The Phillies' scoring big then losing later is almost constant. That's why Bowa's jubilation was muted after the game.
"To me, the key is the next 3 days," said Bowa, fretting over the concurrent struggles of his starting staff. They all could use the run support.
But this season, the Phillies are 1-4 in games after they win with double-digit runs. In those losses, they are averaging only 3.2 runs. They surely will improve their record if they retain last night's approach at the plate instead of the Home Run Derby mentality that has pervaded their at-bats at cozy Citizens Bank Park in its first 3 months of existence.
"We didn't try to hit home runs," said Bobby Abreu, who doubled and scored in the fourth and sixth. "We just put the ball in play."
Nobody did that better than Bell, though Pat Burrell came close. Burrell smacked a solo homer in the second, but his bigger hits came later, after the Expos intentionally walked Jim Thome, the majors' best player in June. Burrell poked a two-run single in the fourth and a broken-bat single in the sixth.
"He's going to have to do that," said Bowa, who worried over the weekend that Burrell showed signs of his .209 waste of a 2003, what with Burrell batting .176 in June before last night.
"If they're not going to pitch to the big guy, then somebody behind him needs to be a force," Burrell said. "I haven't been that lately."
It all happened, in fact, without Thome for a change. He leads the majors with 26 homers and, with 14 in June, is one away from the Phillies' record for a month. Chase Utley added a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the sixth, the inning that really delighted Bowa.
"I like that," he said. "That's an instinct. You've got to keep going."
"We're definitely capable of doing that more often," opined a relieved Millwood.
It's the sort of instinct consistently lacking by the Phillies' lineup. It's the sort of instinct Bell and Thome were signed to provide in 2003, though Bell's battle with back problems smothered his efforts. Not so this season. Not so last night.
And to think: Without Schill, none of it would have been possible.
http://www.philly.com/images/philly/dailynews/9038/81693306060.jpg
David Bell connects for double in sixth inning as part of his hitting for the cycle
Posted on Tue, Jun. 29, 2004
Bell goes full cycle against Expos
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
AFTER DAVID BELL ripped his cycle, he credited not Grandpa Gus, who rolled one with the Pirates on June 4, 1951, against David's current team, the Phillies.
He didn't nod to daddy Buddy, who never got one in his 18 seasons in the majors.
Nope.
Bell credited Red Sox ace Curt Schilling.
The Phillies' third baseman found himself scuffling a bit before Sunday's game in Boston, so he told himself to keep things simple.
Sure enough, he singled and homered off Schilling.
"Sometimes, when you simplify, things go better," Bell said.
Do they ever.
Thus righted, he provided, in last night's 14-6 win over the Expos at Citizens Bank Park, a template for hitting that the team followed. Bell doubled off starter Sun-Woo Kim in the second, smacked a three-run homer off reliever T.J. Tucker in the Phils' six-run fourth inning, started the scoring in the five-run sixth with an RBI single off Claudio Vargas and, in the seventh, launched a contested two-run triple off Rocky Biddle that nearly hit a fan leaning over the centerfield fence and gave him a career-best six RBI.
Brad Wilkerson and Expos manager Frank Robinson contended that the fan's hat or arm might have deflected the ball off the fence. They lost their argument, thereby keeping Larry Bowa from defending Bell's feat.
"I'd have had to argue," Bowa said, noting that Bell's 13 triples in nine seasons make a cycle for the plodding third baseman lightning in a bottle. "The way David runs, I don't think that's going to come up too often."
Given the Phillies' history, it won't. Bell's was the eighth Phillies cycle and the first since Gregg Jeffries' on Aug. 25, 1995, against the visiting Dodgers. It is the third cycle in the majors this season, though Bell only abashedly accepted congratulations (and the bottle of chilled Dom Perignon from equipment manager and traveling secretary Frank Coppenbarger).
"I'd have rather had two home runs," he said. "It's neat because it's rare."
What's rarer is the Phillies' putting together that six-run fourth and the five-run sixth. They needed all of those runs to protect foundering No. 1 starter Kevin Millwood, who fell behind, 3-0, after two innings and gave up five runs in six innings, but still moved to 6-5 and recorded a season-high nine strikeouts.
Millwood's struggles might be cyclical. The Phillies' scoring big then losing later is almost constant. That's why Bowa's jubilation was muted after the game.
"To me, the key is the next 3 days," said Bowa, fretting over the concurrent struggles of his starting staff. They all could use the run support.
But this season, the Phillies are 1-4 in games after they win with double-digit runs. In those losses, they are averaging only 3.2 runs. They surely will improve their record if they retain last night's approach at the plate instead of the Home Run Derby mentality that has pervaded their at-bats at cozy Citizens Bank Park in its first 3 months of existence.
"We didn't try to hit home runs," said Bobby Abreu, who doubled and scored in the fourth and sixth. "We just put the ball in play."
Nobody did that better than Bell, though Pat Burrell came close. Burrell smacked a solo homer in the second, but his bigger hits came later, after the Expos intentionally walked Jim Thome, the majors' best player in June. Burrell poked a two-run single in the fourth and a broken-bat single in the sixth.
"He's going to have to do that," said Bowa, who worried over the weekend that Burrell showed signs of his .209 waste of a 2003, what with Burrell batting .176 in June before last night.
"If they're not going to pitch to the big guy, then somebody behind him needs to be a force," Burrell said. "I haven't been that lately."
It all happened, in fact, without Thome for a change. He leads the majors with 26 homers and, with 14 in June, is one away from the Phillies' record for a month. Chase Utley added a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the sixth, the inning that really delighted Bowa.
"I like that," he said. "That's an instinct. You've got to keep going."
"We're definitely capable of doing that more often," opined a relieved Millwood.
It's the sort of instinct consistently lacking by the Phillies' lineup. It's the sort of instinct Bell and Thome were signed to provide in 2003, though Bell's battle with back problems smothered his efforts. Not so this season. Not so last night.
And to think: Without Schill, none of it would have been possible.
http://www.philly.com/images/philly/dailynews/9038/81693306060.jpg
David Bell connects for double in sixth inning as part of his hitting for the cycle