The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page C01

Hitting the streets The Indy Racing League schedule will include two road races next year. C2. SECTION Wednesday, august 11, 2004 Wax iPftilaMpftia Unquirer WWW.PHILLY.COM Phils beaten in another rocky finish Another big failure that will haunt Phils, and a new disappointment for loyal fans. Tim Worrell was victimized for three runs in the ninth as the Rockies rallied once again. 5 4 Rockies Phillies This is getting ugly.

No, it was already ugly. Now, it's getting uglier. The Phillies lost another game last night in harrowing fashion and when it was over, you couldn't help but feel that this club might be as cooked as one of those ears of corn that Keith game the Phillies should have won, a loss that will come back to haunt them. Then again, you can say that about a number of games that this disappointing team has played this season. Another huge crowd showed up at Citizens Bank Park.

Fans love to check out the spiffy new place, but most of all, they want to see this team win. They want a reason to believe in these Phillies. You can By Todd Zolecki INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The weeks turned into months. The months unexpectedly turned into 10 starts for Paul Abbott. Vicente Padilla returned to the Phillies' rotation last night at Citizens Bank Park, the first time the all-star righthander has pitched for the Phillies since May 29.

He looked sharp in five innings, but the Phillies lost to the Colorado Rockies, 5-4, when the Rockies scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning against closer Tim Worrell. The Phillies remained six games behind Atlanta in the National League East and 32 behind Chicago in the wildcard race, but that hardly comforted them. They know they missed an opportunity to gain ground. "It's not over, but we're not helping ourselves," Worrell said in a nearly empty clubhouse. "We've tried to stay focused on the games we're playing.

To come home from the road trip and drop two straight, we're still looking for See PHILLIES on C5 On Baseball By Jim Salisbury Jones, hockey player turned farmer, was grilling down on the concourse. On a night when the Phils got more unsettling news on the injury front Next: Rockies (Jennings, 10-9) at Phillies (Wolf, 4-7), 7:05 tonight. TVradio: CSN; WPEN-AM (950). Inside Kevin Millwood had his ailing elbow examined, and won't throw for three to four weeks. C5.

Online http:go.philly. comphillies pitcher just feel it. At several points, in little snippets, there were reasons to believe in the Phils last night. Vicente Padilla came off the disabled list and, for five encouraging innings, branded Mike Lieberthal's catcher's mitt with darting fastballs, the sort that See DEJECTION on C5 Kevin Millwood doesn't need surgery on his ailing elbow, but he won't throw a baseball until after Labor Day they blew a one-run lead in the top of the ninth and lost, 5-4, to the Colorado Rockies. Make no mistake about it: This was a JERRY LODRIGUSS Inquirer Staff Photographer Tim Worrell reacts during Colorado's decisive rally.

"It's not over, but we're not helping ourselves," Worrell said. Bryant faces federal civil suit A former Delsea High hurdler will be Liberia's lone athlete at the Games. rl yL By Josh Egerman INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF Sultan Tucker is preparing to represent Liberia in the Olympics, which start Friday. But not in the way Maurice Greene will represent the United States. Or the way Ian Thorpe will represent Australia.

Or gymnast Svetlana Khorkina will represent Russia. Tucker will have the Olympic hopes of a nation, limited as they may be, on his shoulders and his shoulders alone. Tucker, entered in the 110-meter high hurdles, will be the only athlete in Athens representing Liberia, the war-ravaged West African nation of 3.3 million people. "I realize now that when I step out on the track, I'm one athlete representing a country," said Tucker, whose first name is pronounced Soo-tahn. "That type of feeling should give me the adrenaline to perform at my best.

Everyone within the Liberian organization has their eye on me to see what Sultan is all about." And what the Liberian National Olympic Committee (LNOC), which underwent a disruptive change in leadership 10 months ago that sidetracked other athletes' Olympic dreams, will be watching is an athlete who has spent just three months of his 25 years within Liberia's borders. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Glassboro, Gloucester County, Tucker hasn't been to Liberia in 17 years, but he will wear that nation's red, white and blue when he enters the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremonies Friday. "His goal when he was in high school was to be a state champion and then run in college and then try for the Olympic team," said Rick Schappel, Tucker's track coach at Delsea Regional High School in the mid-1990s. "When he made reference to the Olympics, I just always made the assumption he was talking about the U.S. Olympic team." See OLYMPICS on C7 His accuser's lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages, may complicate efforts by the prosecution.

By Kirk Johnson NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE DENVER The rape case against basketball star Kobe Bryant, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection in two weeks, took a sharp twist yesterday when his accuser filed a civil lawsuit against him in U.S. District Court in Denver, seeking monetary damages. Legal experts said the suit would severely complicate the prosecution's efforts, if only by giving Bryant's lawyers another means to challenge the woman's credibility. They can now strongly suggest to the jury, for example, that she has financial reasons to lie, since a criminal conviction would help her win in civil court. Lawyers for the woman, who has not been publicly identified and who filed the suit as Jane Doe, have complained in recent days that her ability to proceed in the criminal case has been compromised.

They said that rulings by the judge allowing Bryant's lawyers to explore her sexual history around the time of the incident, and that missteps by court personnel who accidentally released sealed court documents about her, had shaken the woman's faith and given her second thoughts about cooperating with prosecutors. The lawyer who filed the suit for the woman, John C. Clune, called a prominent former sex-crimes prosecutor, Linda Fairstein, more than a year ago to solicit her advice about a possible civil case. Fairstein, who led the sex-crimes unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for 26 years, said Clune had not asked that their conversation be kept confidential. But she said she had not publicly discussed two conversations with Clune in July 2003 until contacted yesterday by a reporter.

Clune would not comment on Fairstein's remarks because of a gag See BRYANT on C7 Sultan Tucker is allowed to represent Liberia because his mother was born in that country. Liberia had hoped to send 1 6 athletes to Athens, but problems with the nation's Olympic committee led to a lack of funding. Code of conduct Athletes will treat the flag with respect, the USOC's chief says. C7. U.S.

team wins Special section Online The basketball squad In tomorrow's ends its tour of Europe Inquirer: a 10-page philly.com by beating Turkey. C7. preview of the Games. Olympics. The Eagles have another popular receiver: Mitchell Inside Chants of "Freddie, Freddie" are being heard at camp, although he is still overshadowed by Terrell Owens.

Terrell Owens backtracks on his reported comments about ex-teammate Jeff Garcia. C6. Online Coverage: http:go.philly.comeagles. Tiger Woods, going into this week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, is looking to recapture that old magic and swagger. C3.

me lately?" The last thing Eagles fans remember Mitchell doing was quite unforgettable and unbelievable. He was on the receiving end of one of the greatest plays in franchise history. With time running out on their season and the Eagles facing a fourth-and-26 play against Green Bay in the playoffs, Mitchell hauled in a 28-yard pass from Donovan McNabb that kept the game alive. Kicker David Akers forced See EAGLES on C6 By Bob Brookover INQUIRER STAFF WRITER BETHLEHEM, Pa. Freddie Mitchell's 2003 season was a reality TV show.

Call it Extreme Makeover. A year ago at this time, the Eagles' 2001 first-round draft pick was coming off a disappointing sophomore year, and many of the local fans thought he was far more talk than substance. Now, after a productive 2003 season as the team's third receiver, he has soared on the team's popularity chart. Based on the crowd reaction during the team's training camp workouts at Lehigh University, Mitchell is at least among the team's top five fan favorites. During one workout, he stood next to Terrell Owens and listened to the fans pay their daily tribute to the star receiver with chants of "T.O., T.O., T.O." When they finished, a second chant started: "Freddie, Freddie, Freddie." Owens urged the fans to get louder.

Mitchell laughed and smiled. "It's a fickle world we live in," Mitchell said. "That's how society is. What have you done for JEFF ROBERSON Associated Press.