Martin Lifts Pirates Past Phillies

Pittsburgh tried to trade Al Martin to Arizona this spring. Lately Martin has been the Pirates' best hitter.

Martin had his first two-homer game in more than three years to help the Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 12-7 and take three of four in this intrastate series.

Pittsburgh was set to ship Martin to the Diamondbacks until Arizona's Bernard Gilkey blocked the trade by refusing to make contract concessions for the Pirates.

Not bad for a guy who was unwanted after a poor 1998 season. Once the Pirates were stuck with him, Martin was supposed to fill a backup role but his production, coupled with Jose Guillen's disappointing work, put him back in the starting lineup. A 10-game hitting streak has his average up to .296.

Â"It's definitely satisfying,Â" Martin said. Â"I've worked my butt off and to this point it's paying off. I feel like I've kind of reestablished myself after what happened last year but it's a long season. I don't want to get too excited because there's a long way to go.Â"

The Pirates pounded a Phillies starter for the second consecutive game, scoring in the first six innings and seven of eight times they batted.

Robert Person (1-2) gave up both of Martin's home runs and a two-run shot by Brant Brown. Person allowed seven runs in four innings, one night after Chad Ogea was tagged for eight runs in 3 2-3 innings.

Â"To me, it looked like he got himself into fastball counts to some fastball hitters and he threw fastballs,Â" Phillies manager Terry Francona said, Â"and they hit them pretty good.Â"

Todd Ritchie (7-6) gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings after losing three of his last four decisions.

Martin led off the first with a home run. After Brown's homer in the second, Jason Kendall doubled in two runs in the third.

Martin hit a two-run homer, his 10th, ithe fourth. It was the second multihomer game of his career and first since April 5, 1996, against the Mets.

Â"I was just throwing instead of pitching. I wasn't hitting my spots,Â" Person said.

Warren Morris drove in two runs with a double in the fifth and Adrian Brown hit a solo homer, his first, in the eighth for the Pirates. Ivan Cruz added three hits, including an RBI single.

Scott Rolen went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer, his 15th, for the Phillies. Doug Glanville had an RBI double and Marlon Anderson singled in a run.

The Phillies scored three runs, two unearned, in the eighth. Reliever Scott Sauerbeck gave up three walks and a hit and Morris and Ed Sprague made errors.

Â"As bad as that was, if we had gotten a hit with the bases loaded (in the eighth), that game had a chance to get crazy,Â" Francona said.

Instead, Greg Bennett hit into a double play.

Notes: Phillies reliever Yorkis Perez left the game in the fifth inning with an inflamed left elbow. He will be examined Friday. Francona, who consulted with general manager Ed Wade after the game, said he expects Perez to go on the DL. ... Francona thinks his team has three legitimate All-Stars: pitchers Curt Schilling and Paul Byrd, plus catcher Mike Lieberthal. Â"I also think Bobby Abreu and Doug Glanville deserve consideration,Â" he said. The Phillies haven't had more than one player on the All-Star team since 1995. ... The Phillies moved Tyler Green to relief at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Green, the Phillies' No. 1 draft pick in 1991 and an All-Star in 1995, cleared waivers this week and accepted the minor league assignment. ... Kevin Young was out of the Pirates' starting lineup for just the second time in 77 games as Cruz replaced him. Before his purchase from Triple-A Nashville last Friday, Cruz had appeared in only 11 major league games in 10 pro seasons. All his experience came with the Yankees during the 1997 season. Â"I had a little bit of jitters before the game,Â" Cruz said.

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