Braves’ Grand Slams Doom Hapless Phillies

National League

The Atlanta Braves hit two grand slams in a game for the first time since 1987, using the homers by Tim Spehr and Ryan Klesko to rally from a 6-0 deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-6 Monday night.

Spehr, called up from AAA Richmond on Saturday to replace the injured Javy Lopez, had a huge impact in his Atlanta debut, homering into the left-field stands in the fifth inning to pull the Braves within 6-5.

The following inning Klesko hit another grand slam to put the Braves ahead.

Pirates 5, Mets 4

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh pulled off the comeback this time, rallying three times before Jason Kendall’s RBI double in the eighth inning gave it a victory over New York.

The Mets had won six of seven, all after trailing, and had rallied from a 6-0 deficit the night before to win 7-6 in 10 innings in Atlanta.

But the N.L. Central-leading Pirates rallied with four consecutive hits off Greg McMichael (6-7) and Cory Lidle in the eighth to win it - their 10th victory in 12 games.

Reds 4, Cardinals 2

Cincinnati

Kent Mercker (7-6) survived solo homers by Gary Gaetti and Ray Lankford to help Cincinnati beat St. Louis for only the third time in eight games.

Gaetti homered for the fifth time in five games and Lankford added his second homer in two games, but St. Louis couldn’t overcome another poor start by Fernando Valenzuela (2-12), who leads the major leagues in losses.

Marlins 5, Expos 4 (12)

Miami

Jim Eisenreich singled home the winning run in the 12th inning with his third hit of the game as Florida rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Montreal.

Padres 5, Giants 3

San Diego

Tony Gwynn raised his average to .402 with a single, double and triple, driving in three runs, extending his hitting streak to 19 games as San Diego topped San Francisco.

Astros 9, Cubs 7 (15)

Chicago

Ricky Gutierrez singled home the go-ahead run in the 15th inning as Houston edged Chicago in the longest night game ever at Wrigley Field, 5 hours, 19 minutes.

Dodgers 14, Rockies 12 (10)

Denver

Eric Karros hit a two-run homer off Steve Reed (1-4) in the 10th inning as Los Angeles overcame a 4-for-6 night by Larry Walker, who raised his average to .411, to beat Colorado.

Clearing the bases

Francisco Cordova of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who combined with reliever Ricardo Rincon on a 10-inning no-hitter, was named National League player of the week for July 10-13… . The Chicago Cubs hired Jeff Pentland as hitting coach, replacing Tony Muser, who left to manage the Kansas City Royals. Pentland, 50, began the season as the New York Mets’ minor-league hitting coordinator.