PHILADELPHIA -- Jim Thome has been feeling good lately, and so has his power-packed swing.
Thome hit a pair of two-run homers, and Jimmy Rollins had an inside-the-park home run to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Thome connected in his first two at-bats -- his league-leading 22nd and 23rd home runs -- for the 34th multihomer game of his career and his second this year. He added a double in the fourth inning and a sacrifice fly in the sixth for his fifth RBI of the day, pushing his team-high total to 50.
Afterward, still wearing the blue paint instead of the usual black under his eyes to help shade the sun, Thome said the hand injuries that plagued him early this year are no longer a factor.
"I hope it's not something that's going to pop up again. I haven't really thought about it," Thome said. "I've been good the last three weeks since we had that last cortisone shot. (Trainers Jeff Cooper and Mark Andersen) have done an excellent job at keeping me going."
Phillies starter Brian Powell (1-1) tied a career high with seven solid innings. He allowed six hits and two runs in his first major league win since July 26, 2002.
Rheal Cormier pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
After Thome helped the Phillies to an early 2-1 lead, Rollins came to the plate with two on and two outs in the second and drove a 2-1 pitch from Royals starter Dennys Reyes (2-2) to left-center. Center fielder Carlos Beltran leaped, but the ball bounced high off the wall and back toward center. Jason Michaels and Todd Pratt scored, while Rollins hustled all the way from first and easily beat the relay throw from Angel Berroa to make it 5-1.
"'Vuke (third-base coach John Vukovich) was going crazy over there jumping up and down," Rollins said. "He had to send me home or the people would have booed him."
It was the first inside-the-park home run at Citizens Bank Park and the first of Rollins' five-year career. The last Phillies player to accomplish the feat was Doug Glanville on May 10, 2002, against Arizona.
"Vuke was talking to me two days ago and said there's not going to be any inside-the-parkers unless somebody like Jimmy hits one and the guy jumps for it," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "He came in after and said, 'How about that?'"
Bobby Abreu led off the third with a single and Thome followed with a shot to right center, his seventh homer in his last eight games.
Reyes gave up six hits and seven runs in only 2 1/3 innings. In four starts this month, he has surrendered 30 hits and 19 runs in 22 2/3 innings, raising his ERA from 2.52 at the end of May to 4.74 following Sunday's outing.
"It was a horrible day all the way around," Reyes said. "It seemed like everything I threw, they hit."
Placido Polanco singled with one out in the first, then stole his second base of the season. Reyes got Abreu to line out to center, but Thome hit a 2-0 pitch to left for the game's first runs.
"This is the perfect ballpark for him," Royals manager Tony Pena said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he hit 60 (home runs) in this park."
Matt Stairs led off the top of the second with a homer to right-center, his third of the series and 10th this year.
Notes
- Stairs' homer was his seventh on the road this year.
- Thome crushed the first pitch of his third at-bat into the upper deck in right field, but pulled it several feet foul.
- Thome's sacrifice fly was his first of the season.
- Berroa went 2-for-4 and is 11-for-26 in his last six games.
