Phillies Notes | Victorino slays Giants in series

PHOENIX - The Phillies told Shane Victorino to take a seat for two days last week in Atlanta.

He wanted no part of it.

He wanted to play and prove he can be an everyday player. But perhaps the rest helped. Or maybe it served as motivation. He hit .588 (10 for 17) with one walk, one double, one home run, four RBIs, seven runs, and six stolen bases in the four-game series against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.

He entered last night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field hitting .304 with one homer, 12 RBIs, 18 runs and 13 stolen bases this season. He had a .386 on-base percentage and was seeing 3.93 pitches per plate appearance, which ranked 31st out of 101 players in the National League.

Victorino hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Sunday's 8-5 victory. It came against Giants rookie righthander Tim Lincecum.

"You've got to stay hot when you're hot," Victorino said. "I felt comfortable."

Victorino seemed to be everywhere this weekend. He even made the Giants' blood boil.

He and Giants lefthander Noah Lowry exchanged words in the third inning Saturday when Victorino thought he took ball four. Lowry said something to the outfielder, and Victorino snapped back.

Then he upset the Giants in the fifth inning Sunday, when he drew an obstruction-error call when he was caught stealing.

Victorino took off for second before Lincecum started his delivery home, which put Victorino in a pickle. As he tried to avoid the tag, he ran into Omar Vizquel on the infield grass. But Victorino was not called out for running out of the base path. Second-base umpire Gary Cederstrom ruled him safe because Vizquel blocked his path.