NEW YORK — Relax.
Breathe.
Greg Dobbs asked that of himself in the top of the 10th inning last night at Shea Stadium. The Phillies had runners on second and third with one out when he hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score the winning run in a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets.
The win kept the Phillies no more than 1 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres in the National League wild-card race with 15 games to play. They are 5 1/2 behind division-leading New York.
The Phillies have beaten the Mets six consecutive times, including their memorable four-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park late last month.
Manager Charlie Manuel was asked to explain their recent success against the Mets.
"I can't," Manuel said. "We've played them good. We're going to make it seven tomorrow. Get Pedro [Martinez] tomorrow. I have had a lot of losses with Pedro pitching. We're due to get some."
Dobbs had seen the inning setting up perfectly for him. Jayson Werth hit a leadoff single to left. Carlos Ruiz then caught two big breaks. First, catcher Mike DiFelice dropped a ball Ruiz had bunted foul behind home plate. Two pitches later, Ruiz bunted the ball to Aaron Heilman. The pitcher fielded the ball cleanly but made a poor throw to second base to put runners on first and second with no outs.
Abraham Nuez then executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to put Werth at third and Ruiz at second.
"Don't get caught up in being too aggressive," Dobbs said he told himself as he stepped to the plate. "Get something I could hit well into the outfield. Hit the ball hard somewhere. The adrenaline was flowing. It was pretty exciting. In those situations, you've just got to take some deep breaths and calm yourself and try to focus as best you can to get a good pitch."
Dobbs drove the ball to deep center field.
Werth scored.
"It was a playoff atmosphere out there," Nuez said.
Others echoed that sentiment.
"It was a lot better than the games we had in Philly," Jimmy Rollins said. "The crowd showed up. Maybe we need a weekend in Philly so the kids don't have to worry about going to school the next day. But atmosphere helps a lot with your focus and being able to get up."
It seemed to help Jamie Moyer, who had one of his best starts since June.
He entered last night 6-6 with a 6.72 ERA in 13 starts since June 27, and 2-3 with an 8.42 ERA in his last five starts.
