Lopez’s Hit Propels Braves
National League
Javier Lopez was almost apologetic about stealing the acclaim from Tom Glavine.
Glavine allowed one unearned run and five hits in eight innings and hit his first major-league home run, but Lopez won the game with a base hit in the bottom of the ninth as Atlanta beat Cincinnati 2-1 Thursday night in Atlanta.
The Braves won in their final at-bat for the 19th time this season.
“Tom was incredible tonight. You guys should be talking to him,” Lopez said.
Glavine struck out six to move within three of 1,000 for his career. His homer, a 410-foot shot to left-center, tied it at 1 in the sixth. It came in Glavine’s 536th at-bat in his ninth major-league season and earned him a standing ovation. Glavine previously had nine extra-base hits - seven doubles and two triples. He is six for his last 16 with three RBIs.
“Tom’s a .250 hitter, and he hits quite a few out in batting practice. I guess he wins the clubhouse pool. Some of the guys have been debating whether Glavine or Rafael Belliard (who hasn’t homered in eight years) would hit one first,” Lopez said.
Mark Wohlers (5-3) got the win with one scoreless inning. Hector Carrasco (2-4) took the loss.
Expos 6, Astros 2
Houston
Butch Henry pitched eight strong innings, retiring 13 in a row in one stretch, and Montreal beat Houston, extending the Astros’ losing streak to five games. Rondell White had a two-run triple, and Darrin Fletcher and Moises Alou hit solo homers for Montreal.
Marlins 3, Rockies 2
Miami
Florida rallied for two runs in the seventh inning and another in the eighth on Steve Decker’s sacrifice fly to beat Colorado. Andre Dawson doubled off Steve Reed (2-2) in the eighth and took third on an error by Mike Kingery. Chuck Carr then pinch ran and scored on a fly ball to left by Decker. Ellis Burks’ throw to the plate was late.
Padres 3-4, Cubs 2-12
Chicago
Archi Cianfrocco doubled home a run, and Brian Johnson added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, giving San Diego a victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Willie Blair (5-1) won in only his second start of the season, scattering six hits over six innings.
The Cubs won the second game behind the pitching of Steve Trachsel, who won at Wrigley Field for only the second time in 22 career starts. Mark Grace hit a two-run double and a two-run triple for a season-high four RBIs.
Giants 8, Pirates 7
San Francisco
J.R. Phillips homered twice and drove in five runs, and Barry Bonds hit an eighth-inning RBI double as San Francisco, which blew a seven-run lead, defeated Pittsburgh. Phillips hit a tworun homer, his seventh, in the second and hit a three-run homer in the third.
Mets 5, Phillies 1 (11)
Philadelphia
New York scored four runs in the 11th inning to beat the Phillies, sweeping a series in Philadelphia for the first time since 1991. Rico Brogna singled with one out in the 11th and went to third on Joe Orsulak’s single. Jose Vizcaino, with nine hits in his last 14 at-bats, then singled in Brogna to break a 1-1 tie.
Astros land Henneman
The Houston Astros, trying to bolster their bullpen for a playoff drive, obtained reliever Mike Henneman from the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later.
Henneman, the Tigers’ all-time save leader, will replace Todd Jones as the Astros’ closer.
Henneman has an ERA of 1.53 and has saves in 18 of his 20 opportunities. He has limited opposing hitters to a .222 batting average this season.
Clearing the bases
The Marlins claimed right-handed pitcher Willie Banks off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Banks, 26, was 0-2 with a 4.03 ERA in six starts for the Dodgers after being acquired from the Cubs on June 19 for pitcher Dax Winslett. … Matt Williams of the Giants has increased the intensity of his workouts in anticipation of a return by the middle of this month, but says he won’t come back from an injured foot until he’s able to play a full nine innings. … Astros batters have been hit by a club-record 50 pitches. Orlando Miller got the record when he was hit by Mel Rojas in the ninth inning. Craig Biggio has been hit a league-leading 18 times.