Burrell looks comfortable in third spot Posted on August 24th
The latest lineup change coming from the locker-room laboratory of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel at the start of his team’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers found Pat Burrell hitting third, a rare spot for him lately.
Burrell batted in the No. 3 hole yesterday for only the seventh time this season, and that was the charm.
The veteran leftfielder matched his career high with five RBIs, three coming on a first-inning home run, to spark the Phillies to their second offensive explosion in as many games, a 9-2 victory over the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies, who hit .194 while being swept in four games by the Dodgers in Los Angeles a little more than a week ago, are batting .313 (20 for 64) in two wins at home, scoring at least eight runs in back-to-back games for the first time since July 30 and 31.
Burrell orchestrated yesterday’s explosion, which he started before many of the 45,019 spectators settled into their seats with a drive to left that bounced off the foul pole and into the seats. It was his 30th home run of the season, his fourth season of 30 or more for the Phils.
That was a sight welcomed by Cole Hamels, who had just one hiccup - Russell Martin’s two-run homer in the third - in his seven innings of work.
“For him to come up with the big hit in the first inning definitely got us out in front, and I think that was huge,’” Hamels said.
Entering yesterday’s game, Burrell had been batting .175 in August and .200 (3 for 15) on the current homestand, including a 1-for-3 night (with two runs scored) Friday while batting third. He has struggled to re-create his record in April, when he hit .326 with eight homers and 24 RBIs.
“He definitely got some big hits for us the first of the year,” Manuel said. “Sometimes I think we forget how hot [Chase] Utley and Burrell were. They were just absolutely on fire, and they were a huge part of our offense.”
The top four batters in the order - Jimmy Rollins, Utley, Burrell and Ryan Howard - were 7 for 16 with eight runs scored.
Burrell got some help on his second hit from Dodgers centerfielder Matt Kemp, who lost Burrell’s routine fly ball in the sun. Burrell wound up with an RBI double, and Howard followed with a two-run double that made it 6-2 and ended the day for Los Angeles starter Clayton Kershaw.
Manuel broke up Utley and Howard, both lefthanded hitters, in the batting order, putting Burrell between them, so the Dodgers couldn’t match up with their lefthanders out of the bullpen.
“I usually stick with something that’s working,” Manuel said. “We’ll see. I like it. They did a good job the last couple of days. As long as we’re winning, that’s good enough for me.”
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.