Braves Survive Near No-Hitter

National League

The Cardinals’ Alan Benes lost his no-hitter on Michael Tucker’s two-out double in the ninth inning Friday night and the Atlanta Braves scored in the 13th on Andruw Jones’ infield dribbler for a 1-0 win over visiting St. Louis.

Benes, bidding to pitch the first no-hitter of the season and the first in Turner Field’s brief history, more than matched Greg Maddux for eight innings.

In the ninth, Benes got Keith Lockhart on a soft liner to short to open the inning before retiring Kenny Lofton on a grounder. Benes got a strike on Tucker, who then hit an opposite-field double to right.

In the 13th, Tucker singled with one out off John Frascatore (2-2) and stole second. Chipper Jones’ fly to right moved Tucker to third and Fred McGriff was intentionally walked ahead of Andruw Jones.

Expos 14, Giants 13 Montreal

Montreal overcame an early nine-run deficit and rallied past San Francisco on David Segui’s RBI single in the ninth inning.

Barry Bonds and Glenallen Hill homered as the Giants took an 11-2 lead after three innings.

Rockies 2, Mets 1 New York

Larry Walker hit his league-leading 14th homer, a two-run drive off Greg McMichael in the eighth inning that rallied Colorado.

Walker, who leads the N.L. with a .412 average, homered 419 feet to dead center following Ellis Burks’ one-out single. It lifted Colorado to 2-5 on its 13-game road trip, the second-longest in the team’s five-season history.

Marlins 3, Pirates 1 Pittsburgh

Alex Fernandez got the only two runs he needed in the first inning and Florida celebrated manager Jim Leyland’s return to Pittsburgh.

Rookie Todd Dunwoody, making his second major-league start, had a run-scoring triple in the first and an RBI double in the eighth as the Marlins won their fifth in a row.

Astros 12, Phillies 7 Philadelphia

Craig Biggio homered in his first two at-bats as Houston scored 11 runs in the first two innings and then held on.

Biggio led off Houston’s seven-run first inning by hitting Mark Leiter’s second pitch for his sixth home run. Thomas Howard doubled, Jeff Bagwell walked, and Luis Gonzalez and Bob Abreu followed with RBI singles.

Reds 4, Dodgers 2 Cincinnati

Reggie Sanders drove in three runs and Curtis Goodwin had a career-high four hits - two on bunts - as Cincinnati broke a five-game losing streak.

Cubs 16, Padres 7 Chicago

Sammy Sosa drove in a career-high six runs, three on a triple in an eight-run third inning, as Chicago beat the San Diego.

Clearing the bases

Craig Biggio’s first of two homers was the 100th of his career… . Houston’s Derek Bell will miss 3-4 weeks after surgery on his left calf… . Pirates shortstop Kevin Elster broke his left wrist.