PNC PARK Phillies avoid sweep by Pirates to stay in the National League wild card race
Jim Thome's three RBIs led Philadelphia's 10-7 win.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- By finally beating the Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies avoided having to sweep their upcoming three-game series against Florida to stay close in the NL wild card race.
To manager Larry Bowa, that doesn't mean they still shouldn't try to do exactly that.
Randy Wolf made a just good enough start despite being violently ill before the game and Jim Thome had three RBIs in what essentially was a must-win, 10-7 Phillies victory Sunday over the Pirates.
By winning for only the third time in seven games, the Phillies prevented a three-game Pirates sweep and closed within 11/2 games of the wild card lead.
The Phillies play six of their remaining 12 against the Marlins, starting with a three-game series that begins Tuesday at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies are 4-9 against the Marlins and have dropped eight in a row to them.
Room service blues
Wolf (15-9) took the ball Sunday knowing he wasn't close to being 100 percent. He got sick after eating a hotel room service meal late Saturday night and threw up repeatedly as he struggled to get some sleep.
Wolf didn't dare tell Bowa, fearing the manager might start someone else in potentially the biggest game of the season.
"It tells you he's stubborn and a gamer," Bowa said.
Not that Wolf was telling anybody anything. Arriving at the clubhouse Sunday, he simply asked a trainer for some medicine to settle his stomach.
"I knew he didn't have his good stuff, and he took a lot of deep breaths out there," Bowa said.
Wolf helped give himself some breathing room with an RBI double -- he has 11 RBIs -- and a single as the Phillies opened a 10-1 lead. Every starter had a hit by the third against Salomon Torres (5-5) and rookie reliever John Grabow.
As Wolf began to wear down on a warm, humid day, the Phillies eventually needed almost every run. Carlos Rivera, Craig Wilson and J.J. Davis homered in the late innings and Reggie Sanders had a two-run double for the Pirates.
"At this time of the year, you can't have enough runs or enough pitching," Bowa said.
And, he might have added, enough games against the team that's ahead of them. Still, Bowa discounts the Phillies' inability to beat Florida since April 14.
"We're playing for different stakes now," he said.