Brogna’s Two Hr’s Boost Red-Hot Mets

National League

When the player of the week is announced, it may be Rico Brogna. He’s the slugging first baseman for the Team of the Week.

Brogna hit two more home runs Sunday, including his first career grand slam, as the host New York Mets finished a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with an 8-2 victory.

It was the fifth straight victory for the Mets, with the first two in the streak coming against another wild card contender - the Houston Astros. New York is 14-4 in the last month against the top three teams in the wild card standings - Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia.

Brogna, who has five home runs, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored in his last six games, had a career-high five RBIs and upped his team-leading totals to 22 homers and 68 RBIs.

The ball he hit for his grand slam was retrieved by bullpen coach Steve Swisher.

“It’s going someplace in our new home,” Brogna said. “I’ll mark the date and the game on it and make some sort of a trophy out of it.”

Padres 11, Cubs 3

San Diego

Ken Caminiti became the first player in N.L. history to homer from both sides of the plate in consecutive games, and Fernando Valenzuela also homered as San Diego made it two straight routs of Chicago with the victory.

The Padres hit five home runs to tie a club record. They’ve done it four times, most recently Aug. 24, 1993 against St. Louis.

Astros 5, Expos 3

Montreal

Doug Drabek came off a suspension and pitched seven strong innings to lead Houston to the victory over Montreal and a sweep of the three-game series.

Houston finished 6-3 on a nine-game road trip and stayed in second place in the wild card standings, 1-1/2 games behind Los Angeles.

Pirates 5, Giants 4

Pittsburgh

Barry Bonds ended a terrible day by flying out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to end the game as San Francisco dropped its fifth game in six tries in losing to Pittsburgh.

Bonds also struck out twice, grounded into a double play, was caught stealing and misplayed a fly ball into a triple. He finished the series 2-for-13.

Dodgers 8, Cardinals 0

St. Louis

Ismael Valdez pitched a two-hitter and struck out nine and Mike Piazza hit his 30th homer as Los Angeles blanked St. Louis.

Valdez (12-11) faced only 29 hitters as he stopped his four-game losing streak.

Marlins 17, Rockies 0

Denver

Gary Sheffield went 5-for-5 and drove in four runs as Florida routed Colorado, reducing the Rockies’ lead in the N.L. West to one game.

The Marlins set a team record for runs, tied a team record with four homers and handed the Rockies only their second shutout loss of the season at Coors Field.

Braves 4, Reds 1

Cincinnati

Tom Glavine improved to 13-1 career at Riverfront Stadium and capped a weekend of dominant pitching as Atlanta swept Cincinnati with the victory.

Glavine (15-6) scattered four hits over seven innings and struck out eight to help the NL East champions improve the league’s best record to 84-48.

Clearing the bases

San Diego Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti has agreed to a new $6 million, two-year contract that includes a $300,000 signing bonus… . The Montreal Expos, who lost 22 of their last 30 games at home, will have their first losing season at Olympic Stadium since 1991… . Los Angeles has committed two or more errors 28 times. In those games, the Dodgers are 10-18… . The New York Mets have now won 20 of their last 30.