PHILADELPHIA -- In a change of recent fortune, luck was on

[blueberryjerry]

PHILADELPHIA -- In a change of recent fortune, luck was on Cole Hamels side this time. . Wil Nieves doubled and had three hits and Hamels got a victory when he wasnt at his best as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Wednesday. Chase Utley had the go-ahead RBI and Ben Revere and Marlon Byrd drove in runs for the Phillies, who won for just the third time in their last nine. Kendrys Morales homered for Seattle, which was bidding to move 12 games over .500 for the first time since 2007. The Mariners, who are battling Detroit for the ALs second wild-card spot, lost for just the third time in 10 games. Hamels (7-6) snapped his string of seven straight starts going at least seven innings, but picked up the win in a rare reversal of fortunes. The left-hander entered Wednesday with the eight-best ERA in baseball but there were more than 100 pitchers with more victories. Hamels didnt have his best stuff against the Mariners, giving up three runs on nine hits with four strikeouts, one walk and two wild pitches, but he got just enough run support and a lift from the Philadelphia bullpen. "Hes pitched outstanding," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He was due for a win like this with not his best stuff and his teammates picking him up. Hes on a long roll of good games and some of them without the run support. He was due for one today." Hamels said: "I think the team definitely played really well with getting the runs in when we needed to." Jonathan Papelbon struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his 30th save in 33 opportunities. Jake Diekman followed Hamels and struck out four in two scoreless frames and Ken Giles fanned the side in the scoreless eighth. James Paxton (3-1) took the first loss of his career after the shortest outing in his 10th start. He lasted four innings while allowing four runs - one earned - on seven hits. The 25-year-old Paxton was 6-0 in his career. "I probably couldve executed pitches a little bit better," Paxton said. "But they were finding holes with ground balls, a couple bloopers in there, but thats baseball." Philadelphia was helped by Paxton in the fourth. After Nieves led off with a single, Andres Blanco hit a liner off Paxtons left ankle. The pitcher retrieved the ball but threw it away to put runners on second and third with no outs. Nieves scored on a passed ball and Utleys RBI single made it 4-3. TRAINERS ROOM Mariners: Paxton stayed in the game after taking Blancos line drive off his left foot in the fourth inning. He said afterward he was OK. Phillies: OF John Mayberry Jr. had a pair of hits on Tuesday in his first rehab game with Triple-A Lehigh Valley at Pawtucket. Mayberry has been on the DL since July 21 with left wrist inflammation. UP NEXT Mariners: Seattle takes Thursday off before heading to Boston for a three-game series at Fenway Park beginning at 4:10 Friday afternoon. Felix Hernandez (13-4, 1.99) takes the hill for the Mariners for the first time since snapping his MLB record of 16 straight starts with seven or more innings and two runs or fewer. Phillies: Following Thursdays off day, RHP Kyle Kendrick (5-11, 4.90) takes the mound as Philadelphia opens a three-game home series with the Cardinals at 7:05 Friday. Kendrick is 1-3 with a 5.49 ERA in his last seven starts. Following his last start, Kendrick apologized a day after storming off the mound and not waiting for manager Ryne Sandberg when he was lifted after allowing three earned runs in five innings of a 6-5 loss to the Giants on Saturday. SUPPORT FOR TANEY Sandberg replaced his customary Phillies uniform and cap with one bearing the name of Taney at his postgame news conference and pledged the teams support for the Philadelphia team in the Little League World Series. "We all played Little League so we can relate," Sandberg said. "Its back to the basics of having fun and jumping around and doing all of the things they do. To have someone to cheer for and pull for, that doesnt happen every year. We have somebody to pull for." STREAK SNAPPED The Mariners had their streak of 15 straight wins when scoring three or more runs snapped. . Virtanen opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first period, then gave Canada a two-goal lead with a power-play goal 1:03 into the second. Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second. . Or, for that matter, the aged. . After overcoming a three-goal deficit the Senators forced the game to overtime only to watch it slip away as Seth Jones scored the winner 3:49 into the extra period as the Nashville Predators defeated the Senators 4-3 Monday night.SHAWNIGAN LAKE, B.C. -- Julianne Zussman had three tries as Canadas womans rugby squad opened their season on Tuesday with a 51-7 victory over the USA Eagles in the first of a two-game Can-Am Series showdown. Jessica Dovanne and Magali Harvey had two tries apiece for Canada while Kayla Mack and Mandy Marchak each added one. Andrea Burk and Magali Harvey made conversions. "We were able to gain momentum off of some big positive tackles and it was an exciting game to play in the backs off a strong forwards performance," said Zussman. "We had some huge defensive hits and that was one of our main goals going in was to battle at the point of contact and domminate them in contact. . ." Mia Bitzar scored the lone try for the Americans, which didnt come until the second half, and Sadie Anderson had a conversion. "Our defence was great, there are still a couple things to find tune, especially getting lower at the breakdown point and particularly at the maul. But for the most part we got our shoulder in and made some positive tackles, which was great," said captain Kelly Russell. These games are being held in conjunction with a two-week selections camp in preparation for 2014 IRB Womens World Cup. The women will play the USA again on Saturday at Westhills Stadium in Langford, B.C. ' ' '

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