Victorino delivers victory

Shane Victorino had leis stacked to his chin and even more draped in his locker at Citizens Bank Park. All he needed were some huge waves and a mai tai.

"It's weird how this game works," he said yesterday. "And how life works."

Victorino had just smacked a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-8. It completed a memorable day. The Phillies handed out Victorino hula figurines to fans. He heard "Tiny Bubbles," a Don Ho classic, performed live before the first pitch. There were hula dancers (and Danny DeVito, in town promoting FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) on the dugout. Fans and Phillies employees wore grass skirts. And between innings, the soothing sounds of Hawaiian music played over the public address system.

"I told him we ought to break out the leis more often," Aaron Rowand said.

Ryan Howard had crushed a three-run home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Phillies an 8-7 lead. But Ryan Madson walked Fred Lewis and Ryan Klesko with one out in the ninth, and Kevin Frandsen singled to left through a sloppy infield to score a run and tie it.

"In the ninth inning, I was out there after they tied the game, and for some reason, it kept playing in my mind that I'm going to hit a walk-off home run," Victorino said. "I don't know what it was. It just kept playing through my mind. . . . I was just telling Jimmy [Rollins] about it. Lo and behold, look what happened. It just couldn't have happened on a better day."

The native Hawaiian rounded third and flashed the shaka sign - known to the mainlanders as "hang loose" - to third-base coach Steve Smith before his teammates mobbed him at home plate.

The victory returned the up-and-down Phillies (28-28) to .500. If they beat the Giants this afternoon in the series finale, they would win the four-game series against the Giants and head to New York for a three-game series against the Mets at Shea Stadium with a little momentum.

And that would be a good thing. The Mets hold a 71/2-game lead over the third-place Phillies in the National League East.

The Phillies put themselves in a 7-3 hole thanks to a poor effort from Phillies righthander Freddy Garcia, who allowed nine hits and seven runs (six earned) in 51/3 innings.

But the Phils finally battered Giants righthander Tim Lincecum in the seventh. Rowand hit a leadoff single and Carlos Ruiz followed with a double. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms then doubled to left to score both runners, making it 7-5. Lefthander Jack Taschner walked Chase Utley with two outs, and Howard followed with a homer.

"I was just looking for something good," Howard said. "Just looking for something up. Fortunately, he left the fastball right there."

Giants catcher Bengie Molina wanted the pitch outside, but the fastball found the middle of the plate. Almost as soon as Howard swung the bat, Molina jumped up from behind the plate and punched the air in disgust.

But it still got hairy. The Giants had a runner on first with two outs in the eighth, when Barry Bonds pinch hit. Madson got Bonds to ground out.

"That was the most fun I've had this season," Madson said.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies had a runner on second with two outs and manager Charlie Manuel let Madson hit.

Why? Because the Giants had switch-hitter Randy Winn and lefthanded hitters Lewis and Klesko hitting in the ninth. Lefthanders had hit just .189 against Madson this season, which included the at-bat to Bonds, while they had hit .350 against righthander Antonio Alfonseca.

Madson struck out and he started the ninth. But after winning the battle with Bonds, he lost the battle with Lewis and Klesko. Alfonseca came in and allowed a run-scoring single to Frandsen to make it 8-8.

But Victorino saved the day.