Mets Get Punch From New Arrival

Todd Pratt celebrated his return to the majors with his first homer since 1994 and drove in three runs Friday night as the New York Mets ended a four-game losing streak, beating the Florida Marlins 6-2 in New York.

The Mets, outscored 41-17 during their recent slide, fell behind on Gary Sheffield’s two-run homer in the first inning. But Rick Reed (6-4) and two relievers blanked the Marlins the rest of the way.

Bernard Gilkey added a two-run homer off Al Leiter (7-6) and a late RBI single as the Mets won before a fireworks-night crowd of 38,076.

Dodgers 5, Padres 2

San Diego

Pedro Astacio pitched 6-1/3 strong innings, and Greg Gagne and Tripp Cromer each had two-run doubles to lead Los Angeles to victory over San Diego.

Astacio (5-7) gave up seven hits as he allowed only single runs in the first and third innings to win his second consecutive start.

Giants 4, Rockies 0

San Francisco

Shawn Estes allowed one hit in 8-2/3 innings - a first-inning single - and tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts as San Francisco defeated Colorado.

Rod Beck got the final out for his N.L.-leading 28th save.

Reds 4, Astros 2

Houston

Willie Greene became only the ninth player to homer into the Astrodome’s upper deck, and Cincinnati extended a winning streak to five for the first time in nearly a year, defeating Houston.

Cubs 9, Phillies 3

Philadelphia

Pitcher Terry Mulholland drove in the go-ahead run with the first of his two doubles as streaking Chicago defeated Philadelphia, handing the Phillies their 11th consecutive defeat.

Ryne Sandberg went 3 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs for Chicago.

Braves 6, Expos 3

Montreal

Mark Lemke’s two-run triple with one out in the ninth inning lifted Atlanta to victory over Montreal.

Atlanta has won six straight against Montreal, and 16 of 19 since the start of last season. The Expos have lost three straight and seven of 11 overall.

Pirates 7, Cards 5 (10)

St. Louis

Mark Smith hit a two-run homer off Dennis Eckersley in the 10th inning, and Pittsburgh won its fifth straight.

Marc Wilkins (6-1) pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the first win by a Pirates reliever since June 6.

Clearing the bases

San Diego third baseman Ken Caminiti said a back injury could prevent him from playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. … A former San Franciso Giants scout accused of demanding sex from young players did not meet with a prosecutor as scheduled. Luis Rosa had been ordered to return to the Dominican Republican and appear before the prosecutor in San Pedro de Macoris. …