No Practice? Perfect
National League
Florida manager Rene Lachemann has figured out the key to success: No more batting practice.
That’s the prescription he half-seriously proposed for his team after the Marlins beat the Giants 12-10 in 14 innings Tuesday in San Francisco.
“It seems like the last few days when we didn’t take batting practice we were OK. We’re not going to take batting practice tomorrow,” Lachemann said. “We took batting practice in Los Angeles and got no-hit by (Ramon) Martinez and three-hit by (Hideo) Nomo.”
Greg Colbrunn hit a grand slam in the 14th inning, giving him a club-record seven RBIs, as the Marlins survived a two-homer game by Barry Bonds.
The Marlins, who had 15 hits, were unable to take batting practice because Monday night’s 10-8 win over the Giants had lasted until nearly midnight.
Colbrunn, who also hit a three-run homer in the fourth, lined his grand slam into the left-field bleachers off Chris Hook as the Marlins scored five runs in the 14th.
Glenallen Hill hit a three-run homer in the 14th for San Francisco.
Pirates 5, Braves 4 (10)
Atlanta
Don Slaught’s bloop single to right barely eluded first baseman Fred McGriff, giving Pittsburgh a victory over Atlanta.
Phillies 7, Rockies 5
Denver
Philadelphia survived two home runs by Larry Walker and won for only the second time in 10 games, beating Colorado.
Reds 5, Padres 1
San Diego Jose Rijo re-injured his right elbow and left the game in severe pain while Cincinnati was defeating San Diego on a combined six-hitter.
Mets 12, Cubs 3
Chicago
Brett Butler had four hits and scored four times and Bobby Bonilla drove in four runs, leading New York past Chicago.
Expos 5, Cardinals 2
Montreal
Moises Alou went 4 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs and Sean Berry drove in Montreal’s other three runs to beat St. Louis.
Astros 13, Dodgers 4
Los Angeles
Derek Bell led a 16-hit attack with three hits and three RBIs and Houston rallied for six runs in the eighth inning and beat Los Angeles.
Clearing the bases
Baltimore is marking a hard run at Bobby Bonilla, the only Mets player with a .300 average, offering outfielder Jeffery Hammonds. The Mets also want right-handed relief pitcher Armando Benitez. The Orioles are also reported to be interested in Kirby Puckett of the Twins and the Astros’ Phil Plantier. … Atlanta’s Ryan Klesko has hit all nine of his homers and 26 RBIs in his last 28 games. … The Marlins lead the majors with six slams this season. … After Padres shortstop Ray Holbert hit a grand slam Monday for his first career homer, two fans sent baseballs to the clubhouse saying it was one hit by Holbert… . The Giants are 15-24 since Matt Williams went out of the lineup with a broken bone in his right foot June 3… . San Francisco’s Barry Bonds has eight homers in his last 17 games and is hitting .400 with 19 RBIs and 21 walks during that span… . Giants closer Rod Beck, who had 48 saves in 1993 and was perfect on all 28 of his save opportunities last season, has blown three straight saves and seven total this season… . Ramon Martinez, scheduled to start today, will try to reverse a negative trend by Dodgers who have pitched no-hitters. The previous five failed to win their next start - a streak that stretches back to Sandy Koufax’ perfect game against the Cubs in 1965 and includes Bill Singer, Jerry Reuss, Fernando Valenzuela and Kevin Gross.