SAN FRANCISCO - Oh, how the Phillies missed Jimmy Rollins.
They missed the balance he brought to their lineup as a switch-hitter. They missed the speed he brought to the bases. But perhaps most important, they missed his flair for the dramatic.
Rollins came up big in his return from the disabled list on Friday night in a 7-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, which kept the Phillies a game behind the Florida Marlins for first place in the National League East.
He hit a two-run home run to left field in the fifth inning to cut the Giants' lead to 4-3. He ripped a single off third baseman Jose Castillo's glove in the seventh inning and knocked in an insurance run with a double in the eighth.
"Yeah, ankle's broken," said Rollins, joking about the sprained left ankle that had forced him onto the DL.
So let's recap: in his first game back from the DL, he went 3 for 5 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.
The only thing missing from his return?
"A triple," Rollins said with a smile.
Rollins, his manager and his teammates couldn't help but smile in the visitors' clubhouse afterward.
Of course, Rollins had some help. Cole Hamels recovered nicely after allowing three runs in the fourth inning, giving up just one hit the rest of the way. In seven innings, he allowed six hits, four runs and three walks. He struck out seven.
Pedro Feliz, who spent the first eight years of his big-league career with the Giants, enjoyed his homecoming. He went 2 for 5, which included a two-out double in the sixth inning that tied the game, 4-4.
But the story was Rollins.
He wasn't sure whether he had turned up his level of play a notch knowing everybody would be watching him in his hometown.
It sure looked like it.
"He's been down in Florida, working out and playing," Charlie Manuel said. "He's strong. He had a lot of rest. I'm happy that we got everybody back now. I think we're going to play better. I think we're going to go get the East."
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