Burrell’s Homers Spark Phillies

Pat Burrell hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th, helping give the Philadelphia Phillies an 8-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Burrell and Jimmy Rollins -- two Bay area natives -- homered in the 10th off Jim Brower (7-4) as Philadelphia ended a losing streak at three.

The Phillies, who rallied from a late three-run deficit, stayed tied with Florida for the lead in the wild-card standings.

After scoring nine runs in their last five games, the Phillies handed the West Division-leading Giants only their third loss in the last 18 games at Pacific Bell Park.

Burrell’s three hits raised his average to .202. He began the game with only three hits in his last 24 at-bats.

“This year has been kind of a struggle,” Burrell said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to help them win, and I haven’t done it. You never want to sit, but I understand. [Manager Larry Bowa] has got to go with the guys that he thinks are going to help him win.”

Jim Thome hit a 441-foot homer for the Phillies, while Tomas Perez, Placido Polanco and Bobby Abreu also had run-scoring hits.

Philadelphia closed the gap to 5-4 with RBI singles by Polanco and Abreu in the seventh. Burrell, who grew up in San Jose, led off the eighth with a long homer to left off Jason Christiansen.

Brower retired the first seven he faced until walking Thome in the 10th. Burrell followed with a long shot to left -- and Rollins put his homer in nearly the same spot.

Turk Wendell (3-2) pitched two innings for the victory despite yielding Barry Bonds’ double off the top of the right-field wall in the 10th. Bonds scored on Benito Santiago’s sacrifice fly.