Rookie Continues To Assault Hurlers
National League
Jason Hardtke, who doubled twice off Greg Maddux in his major league debut a day earlier, drove in three runs with a pair of singles Monday night that led the New York Mets over the Florida Marlins 6-1 in New York.
Kevin Brown (15-11) had his five-game winning streak stopped. He leads the majors with a 2.00 ERA, but once again got little offensive support. The Marlins have scored only eight runs in his last six starts.
Lance Johnson became the first Mets player ever to get 200 hits in a season. He tripled, doubled and singled in four at-bats, and also stole his 50th base, tying for the N.L. lead.
Padres 6, Pirates 5
San Diego
Greg Vaughn hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning and San Diego rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Pittsburgh.
Vaughn’s eighth N.L. homer and 39th overall this season came on the first pitch from Marc Wilkins (3-3). Tony Gwynn and Ken Caminiti were on base with singles.
Cubs 3, Expos 1
Chicago
Kevin Foster pitched a six-hitter for his first career complete game as Chicago defeated Montreal.
Foster (7-3), who has won four of five starts since being recalled from the minors Aug. 20, walked none and struck out two.
Cardinals 6, Giants 2
San Francisco
Andy Benes won his 17th game and Ron Gant hit his 27th homer, leading St. Louis past San Francisco.
Benes (17-9) won his fourth straight start, giving up four hits over six innings. He has the second-most victories in the N.L.
Rockies 4, Astros 2
Houston
Quinton McCracken’s two-run triple keyed a three-run rally in the seventh inning that led Colorado over Houston.
The Astros remained 1-1/2 games behind St. Louis, which won in San Francisco, in the N.L. Central. The Rockies are 6-1/2 games back in the wild-card race.
Clearing the bases
Brian Jordan of the St. Louis Cardinals was selected player of the week. Jordan was 11 for 22 last week with four doubles and seven RBIs. … Lance Johnson tied Colorado’s Eric Young for the league lead in steals at 50. San Diego, which had road trips of 13 and 12 games in its previous 31 games, leave town only for a three-game trip to San Francisco next week and a three-game trip to Los Angeles on the final weekend.