Geoff Jenkins

Phillies at Pirates, 7:05, PNC Park, Pittsburgh. TV: CN8. Radio: WPHT (1210), WUBA (1480) Spanish. Phillies RHP Adam Eaton (0-0, 4.74) vs. Pirates LHP Zach Duke (0-1, 4.37) Phillies update: Closer Brad Lidge hasn't allowed an earned run in 10 innings ... Eaton allowed four runs on six hits in five innings in his last start, a 5-4 win over the Mets, but is looking for his first 2008 decision. He is 2-1, 9.74 in six career appearances against the Pirates, but hasn't faced them since 2005 ... Geoff Jenkins is 2-for-12 lifetime against Duke.

With the San Diego Padres trading for centerfielder Jim Edmonds, the Phillies are focusing in on Padres free-agent centerfielder Mike Cameron and remain in the running for free-agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins. San Diego yesterday acquired Edmonds in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, but according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, that does not mean the Padres have ended their pursuit of Jenkins. It means only that the Padres have ended their pursuit of Cameron, a free agent who was talking with them about a two-year contract.

The New York Yankees needed only one inning to break out of their slump. Raul Mondesi hit a bases-loaded triple to cap a five-run first inning as the visiting Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-3, last night, to snap a three-game losing streak and regain first place in the American League East. "It's not like we killed the ball," said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who doubled in the first and finished with two RBI. "But it felt good. " David Wells (6-1) went 6 2/3 innings and got the win. In other AL games: At Cleveland, Casey Blake's two-run homer in the seventh helped the Indians overcome a three-homer game by Detroit's Carlos Pena in a 10-9 win. At Chicago, Orlando Hudson drove in four runs and Shannon Stewart, Eric Hinske and Frank Catalanotto homered to lead the Toronto Blue Jays over the White Sox, 12-2.

In online fan balloting, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Geoff Jenkins and Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek landed the final two roster spots for Tuesday's All-Star Game. New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi also is headed to the game, as a replacement on the American League team. Giambi took the place of Kansas City's Mike Sweeney, who has a back injury. Pittsburgh first baseman Randall Simon was questioned by sheriff's officers after hitting one of the Brewers' four racing sausages with a bat last night in Milwaukee.

Andy Pettitte wasn't about to do what Roger Clemens did the night before - lose to a Pirates rookie pitcher who never had won in the majors. Pettitte made his shortest start in 2 1/2 months, but still won his seventh in a row and helped Houston extend its NL wild-card lead over the Phillies with a 7-4 victory over host Pittsburgh last night. "It seemed like I was in trouble in every inning, but the guys picked me up and played great defense and scored some runs," said Pettitte (17-9)

Andruw Jones drew a bases-loaded walk on four straight balls from Luis Ayala in the 10th inning, capping a comeback that gave Atlanta a 3-2 victory over visiting Washington last night and sole possession of first place in the NL East. The Braves tied the game in the ninth when Jones doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam LaRoche, who homered earlier. Chris Reitsma (3-2) worked a perfect 10th for the win. In other games: At Denver, Dustan Mohr hit a two-run homer in the third inning to lead the Rockies to a 4-3 win over the New York Mets.

Austin Kearns' bases-loaded double completed a six-run fourth inning as Cincinnati rallied to beat visiting Atlanta, 9-3, last night. Adam Dunn later added a pinch three-run homer, his major league-leading 17th, as the Reds won for the 11th time in 15 games. By dropping the first two games of the series, the Braves lost back-to-back games for the first time since April 11-12. Braves manager Bobby Cox, who turned 62 yesterday, was ejected for the second straight game for arguing with home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley.

Milwaukee's Kevin Barker, Tyler Houston and Geoff Jenkins homered and Ken Griffey Jr. remained 0-for-Cincinnati as the visiting Brewers overpowered the Reds last night, 8-5. Seven different Brewers scored and seven had at least one hit as Milwaukee improved to 2-0. The Reds were 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position, leaving them 3-for-26 this season. Griffey walked, grounded out three times against Milwaukee's infield shift, struck out and stranded two runners on third.

Los Angeles came to Milwaukee with five losses in seven games. The Dodgers left town with a three-game sweep following a 10-4 victory yesterday. "The bats woke up," Los Angeles manager Davey Johnson said. Todd Hollandsworth drove in three runs, Adrian Beltre had four hits and two RBI and Mark Grudzielanek added three hits. Eric Young also scored three times. "We can definitely put up runs in a hurry," Grudzielanek said. The Brewers began the series with a four-game winning streak, but scored just eight runs against the Dodgers.

Two old friends had their fun, then got down to business. This could have been John Smoltz and Greg Maddux in the prime of their brilliant careers when they were Atlanta Braves teammates, not opponents. Smoltz got the best of Maddux in their first head-to-head matchup since 1992, earning the win when the Braves rallied for two runs in the seventh inning to beat the visiting San Diego Padres, 3-2, last night. Both pitchers - with 533 wins and five Cy Young Awards between them - were eager to get the best of the other after spending 11 years as teammates.

Eighth grader Jayson Werth had been playing bad basketball, and his mother, Kim, issued a challenge before a game: If you don't score at least 20 points, and if your team doesn't win, there will be consequences. Werth scored about 30 points, his team won and the consequences never needed to be specified. The Phillies rightfielder is accustomed to pressure - applied by him, by a loving and intense mother, and lately by Philadelphia baseball fans. He will need to draw on those experiences now, as the Phillies' hitter whose success or failure is most crucial to the team's season.

Gary Sheffield was one of the preeminent righthanded sluggers of his generation, and the Phillies need a righty bat for their bench. Yesterday, they released a lefthanded slugger, Geoff Jenkins. Although neither side would eliminate the possibility of the 40-year-old Sheffield's becoming a Phillie, multiple team sources told The Inquirer that the chances of signing him are, in the words of one official, "very slim. " General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. would say only that the parties had spoken yesterday after Sheffield was released by the Detroit Tigers.

Although Chan Ho Park's goal to win the fifth spot in the Phillies' starting rotation was motivated by patriotism, J.A. Happ said yesterday that his own desire for the job was equally strong. "Regardless of what anybody says or what's been written about, there's no one who wanted this job more or worked harder," the 26-year-old Happ said after his team awarded the spot to Park yesterday afternoon and also declined to guarantee Happ a position in the major-league bullpen. Park is scheduled to debut for the Phillies on April 12, in Colorado.

As pinch-hitter Matt Stairs worked the count to three balls and a strike against Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, Pat Burrell began to fantasize in the Phillies dugout. "I'm thinking, 'Gosh, what if he hits a home run here?' " Burrell said yesterday. "In the back of my mind I'm thinking he might hit one. " Stairs took his only swing of the night and caught Broxton's 95-m.p.h. fastball perfectly on the barrel of his bat. It rose in a beautiful arc and landed halfway up the right-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium.

The Phillies desperately had hoped to become team No. 8 last October. This year, No. 8 would be terrible. Just seven teams in baseball history have overcome two-games-to-none deficits to win a best-of-five series: The Los Angeles Dodgers over the Houston Astros in the 1981 National League division series. The Milwaukee Brewers over the California Angels in the 1982 American League Championship Series. The San Diego Padres over the Chicago Cubs in the 1984 National League Championship Series.

Cole Hamels and Yovani Gallardo followed different paths to Game 1 of the National League division series. Hamels is the ace, the obvious choice to start for the Phillies. Gallardo is the ace of the future, chosen because the Milwaukee Brewers didn't have a better option. But both relish the opportunity to put their team in position to win this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. With 227 1/3 innings pitched, Hamels finished second in the National League to the New York Mets' Johan Santana (234 1/3)

Geoff Jenkins has been able to count on one thing every October since he reached the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998: Free time. Lots and lots of it. Jenkins ranks fourth among active players in games played without a postseason appearance, a streak of futility that he hopes ends this year. Here are the top five on that dubious list: Damion Easley (1,702 games entering yesterday) Randy Winn (1,446 games) Jose Vidro (1,418 games) Jenkins (1,346 games)

It's as predictable as a mudslinging presidential campaign: Cole Hamels going out every fifth day and putting in his seven innings as the ace of the Phillies pitching staff. Hamels worked seven innings yesterday, the 21st time he has done that in his 27 starts of 2008, and established a career high for innings pitched in a season with 188 2/3 - with five weeks still remaining. The 24-year-old lefthander threw 183 1/3 innings last season - his first full year in the majors - but missed a month between August and September with a mild strain in his pitching elbow.

Mike Lieberthal never got to the playoffs with the Phillies. He arrived in the majors in 1994, the year after the Phils played in the World Series, and played his last game for the team in 2006, the year before the Phils cracked a long playoff drought by winning the National League East. But Lieberthal left a mark in his 13 seasons in red pinstripes. That's why club president David Montgomery invited the former catcher back to town yesterday to officially retire as a Phillie.

Phillies at Pirates, 7:05, PNC Park, Pittsburgh. TV: CN8. Radio: WPHT (1210), WUBA (1480) Spanish. Phillies RHP Adam Eaton (0-0, 4.74) vs. Pirates LHP Zach Duke (0-1, 4.37) Phillies update: Closer Brad Lidge hasn't allowed an earned run in 10 innings ... Eaton allowed four runs on six hits in five innings in his last start, a 5-4 win over the Mets, but is looking for his first 2008 decision. He is 2-1, 9.74 in six career appearances against the Pirates, but hasn't faced them since 2005 ... Geoff Jenkins is 2-for-12 lifetime against Duke.