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Updated: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 12:58 AM EDT
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PHILADELPHIA 4, ATLANTA 3 (10 INNINGS)
 

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Jaret Wright did his job, but the same could not be said of the Atlanta Braves ' defense.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal 's error in the eighth inning led to two runs and Bobby Abreu 's RBI single in the 10th helped the Philadelphia Phillies hand the Braves just their fifth loss in 21 games, 4-3.

Entering with a five-game winning streak and a major league-leading 1.86 ERA in night games, Wright continued his renaissance season in this one, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings. The former first-round pick of the Cleveland Indians , who has not lost since May 22, walked three and struck out five.

"He's very similar to when he came up in Cleveland," said Phillies All-Star first baseman Jim Thome , a teammate of Wright with the Indians. "He's throwing strikes and he's throwing hard."

While Wright threw just 95 pitches and did not allow a hit after Abreu's leadoff double in the third, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox brought in Chris Reitsma to start the eighth inning and preserve a 3-1 lead. Jimmy Rollins greeted the reliever with a single and Chase Utley followed with a grounder to shortstop that Furcal booted.

"When a team gives you an opportunity like that, you've got to capitalize," Thome said.

Abreu hit into a forceout before Thome lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring Rollins and drawing the Phillies within a run. Pat Burrell drew a walk and David Bell singled to center, tying the game.

Rollins led off the 10th against Antonio Alfonseca (5-4) the same way he did vs. Reitsma, with a base hit. After stealing second, Rollins advanced to third on Utley's sacrifice, which Braves catcher Eddie Perez mishandled, putting runners on the corners.

Lefty reliever Sam McConnell came on to face Abreu, who grounded the ball up the middle and off a diving Furcal's glove, scoring Rollins with the go-ahead run.

"I didn't try to do too much," Abreu said. "I was looking for one specific pitch, be patient, put the ball in play and do my job."

"We thought we had the ballgame," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "We didn't play real clean in the later innings, but we played a good game."

Abreu's hit made a winner of Tim Worrell (3-3), who tossed a scoreless ninth. Billy Wagner worked in and out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 10th for his 15th save.

Brought on to seal the victory, Wagner got himself into immediate trouble by allowing singles by Andruw Jones and Eli Marrero . Pinch hitter Mark DeRosa sacrificed and Wagner decided to walk Furcal intentionally to load the bases.

The move worked as Marcus Giles hit a grounder that resulted in a forceout at the plate and J.D. Drew, who extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a double in the first inning, ended the game with a liner to first base.

"No-brainer, I called it," Wagner said of the intentional walk. "I said, 'I'm walking Furcal to face Giles.' Giles hit into the force, I knew I then had to make a pitch."

The win, which moved the Phillies into a first-place tie with the Braves in the National League East Division, improved Philadelphia's record against its top division rivals - Atlanta, Florida and the New York Mets - to just 11-21.

"That was a game we definitely needed, it was a two-game swing," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "We'll take it. It doesn't really matter how we won."

"It's a team that's your main adversary," Wright said. "Any other team, it would have been tough (to lose) but not as hard."

The Phillies are no strangers to coming from behind, gaining their NL-leading 30th comeback victory of the season.

"This is a team that never gives up," Abreu said. "The game is never over for us. We've been making a lot of comebacks."

The Braves took advantage of a miscue by Philadelphia center fielder Jason Michaels in the first inning to build a 2-0 lead. Furcal led off the inning with a liner that Michaels misjudged, allowing the ball to sail over his head for a triple.

Giles followed with a blast over the center field wall for his fifth homer.

The Phillies halved the deficit in the second when starter Eric Milton kept alive the inning with a two-out single and Rollins followed with a run-scoring base hit.

Milton, who remains in search of his 12th win, allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings.


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