ATLANTA, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Philadelphia got another huge performance from lefthander Randy Wolf Tuesday night when he and Jose Mesa combined on a three-hitter and Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen homered as the Phillies stunned the Atlanta Braves in the opener of their critical series, 3-1.
The Phillies closed within one game of the Braves in the National League East. The teams play two more games at Turner Field, but this might have been the most difficult pitching matchup for Philadelphia as they went with Wolf against four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux.
Banished from the rotation at midseason, Wolf missed nearly the entire month of August with a sprained left ankle. But in his last seven starts, Wolf is 4-1 with a 1.68 ERA.
His latest outing was a gem in which he bested the pitcher with the most wins in the major leagues since 1991. Wolf allowed an unearned run, three singles and a walk. He struck out five and took a 2-1 lead into the ninth.
After Rolen homered in the top of the ninth, Mesa needed just nine pitches in the bottom of the inning to notch his 40th save in 44 opportunities.
Maddux allowed Abreu's two-run homer in the fourth. The veteran righthander allowed six hits without a walk over eight innings but remained winless since August 22. That seven-start stretch is the longest without a win for Maddux since June 11-July 11, 1991, when he was with the Chicago Cubs.