Drupal question - using drupal_execute for multivalue fields?

I'm using drupal_execute to save a node programmatically, and for the most part, it works fine, except when it comes to a multi-value field.  

What gets posted is this (I'm just including the portion that isn't working):

 

    [alt] => Array
            (
                [0] => Array
                    (
                        [name] => Sam I. Am
                        [phone] => (650) 5553131
                    )
    
                [1] => Array
                    (
                        [name] => The Lorax
                        [phone] => 6505553344
                    )
    
                [2] => Array
                    (
                        [name] => 
                        [phone] => 
                    )
    
            )

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When I'm setting the $form_state['values'], I'm using:

    for($a = 0; $a < count($_REQUEST['alt']); $a++) {
    		$form_state['values']['field_alternativename'][$a]['value'] = check_plain($_REQUEST['alt'][$a]['name']);
    		$form_state['values']['field_alternativephone'][$a]['value'] = format_phone($_REQUEST['alt'][$a]['phone']);
    	}

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And to save the node:

    drupal_execute('info_node_form', $form_state, $node);

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As a test, to make sure that I'm referencing the appropriate fields, I edited an existing node using node/X/edit and printed out the $form_state['values'] upon submission.  This is what it printed out:

    //output of print '<pre>'; print_r($form_state['values']); print '</pre>';
        [field_alternativename] => Array
            (
                [0] => Array
                    (
                        [value] => Sam I. Am
                        [_error_element] => group_alternative_contacts][0][field_alternativename][value
                        [_weight] => 0
                        [_remove] => 0
                    )
    
                [1] => Array
                    (
                        [value] => The Lorax
                        [_error_element] => group_alternative_contacts][1][field_alternativename][value
                        [_weight] => 1
                        [_remove] => 0
                    )
    
            )
    
        [field_alternativephone] => Array
            (
                [0] => Array
                    (
                        [value] => (650) 5553131
                        [_error_element] => group_alternative_contacts][0][field_alternativephone][value
                        [_weight] => 0
                        [_remove] => 0
                    )
    
                [1] => Array
                    (
                        [value] => (650) 5553344
                        [_error_element] => group_alternative_contacts][1][field_alternativephone][value
                        [_weight] => 1
                        [_remove] => 0
                    )
    
            )

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So, I'm not understanding why it isn't being saved... I'm not setting the delta, but I didn't think I'd have to?  In mysql, the data is stored as:

    mysql> select * from content_field_alternativename ;
    +-------+-------+-------+-----------------------------+
    | vid   | nid   | delta | field_alternativename_value |
    +-------+-------+-------+-----------------------------+
    | 22433 | 22433 |     0 | Sam I. Am                   |
    +-------+-------+-------+-----------------------------+
    
    mysql> select * from content_field_alternativephone;
    +-------+-------+-------+------------------------------+
    | vid   | nid   | delta | field_alternativephone_value |
    +-------+-------+-------+------------------------------+
    | 22433 | 22433 |     0 | (650) 5553131                |
    +-------+-------+-------+------------------------------+

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