Expos’ One Big Hit Beats Red Sox’ Two Little Hits

Mike Lansing’s third-inning homer was Montreal’s only hit off Aaron Sele and Tom Gordon, but it was enough Wednesday as the Expos’ Carlos Perez blanked the visiting Boston Red Sox with a two-hitter.

Lansing hit his 17th homer of the season with two outs in the third, enabling Montreal to complete interleague play with a 12-3 record.

Perez (12-10) won for the first time in six starts, pitching the first low-hit game of his career. He struck out eight and walked none, allowing a second-inning single to Wil Cordero and a fourth-inning double to John Valentin.

Perez pitched his M.L.-leading fifth shutout, the sixth of his career. He improved to 3-0 with a 1.39 ERA in four interleague starts.

Sele (12-12) struck out four and walked four in seven innings, losing his third straight start and dropping to 1-4 with a 6.40 ERA in his last five. Gordon struck out the side in the eighth.

Indians 7, Pirates 3

Pittsburgh

Omar Vizquel and Matt Williams hit two-run homers in a five-run fourth inning to keep Orel Hershiser unbeaten since July 2.

Williams followed Jim Thome’s single and Dave Justice’s RBI double with his two-run shot, his 29th of the season, to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.

Athletics 12, Giants 3

Oakland, Calif.

Ben Grieve drove in five runs with a club record-tying three doubles - in three consecutive innings - in his major-league debut for Oakland.

Scott Spiezio had a three-run triple and Brent Mayne drove in four runs with a two-run homer - his fifth of the season - and a two-run double as the A’s broke a five-game losing streak.

Brad Rigby got his first win in the majors in his 12th start.

Rangers 5, Dodgers 2

Arlington, Texas

Tom Goodwin tripled to break an eighth-inning tie as Texas won a game delayed 2 hours by rain.

Marlins 7, Orioles 6

Miami

Gary Sheffield homered with one out in the ninth and Florida won in its final at-bat for the second consecutive night.

With their sixth consecutive victory, the Marlins closed in on Atlanta in the N.L. East.

The Marlins, who trailed 6-3 in the sixth, came from behind to win for the 39th time this season.

Tigers 12, Braves 4

Atlanta

Tony Clark broke out of a power slump with a homer and five RBIs as Detroit routed John Smoltz and Atlanta with the most runs scored against the Braves this season.

Smoltz, a Michigan native who began his professional career with the Tigers before a 1987 trade to Atlanta, lasted only 3-1/3 innings, his shortest outing in more than two years.

Willie Blair (15-6), continuing his comeback from a broken jaw, became Detroit’s first 15-game winner since Bill Gullickson in 1991. Blair has won 11 of his last 13 decisions.

Astros 4, Brewers 0

Houston

Ramon Garcia pitched a five-hitter for the first complete game of his career, as Houston stopped a six-game losing streak.

Scott Karl (10-11) lost for the first time in 10 starts since July 4. Karl had been 8-0 with a 2.45 ERA since the All-Star break.

Cardinals 4, White Sox 2

St. Louis

Gary Gaetti hit a tie-breaking home run and rookie Manny Aybar won for the first time in the major leagues to keep St. Louis on the fringe of the N.L. Central race.

Gaetti’s homer leading off the sixth broke a 2-2 tie and made a winner of Aybar (1-4), who pitched six innings after surviving a shaky start.

Mets 4, Blue Jays 2

New York

Reliever Paul Quantrill’s throwing error allowed the tying run to score before Rey Ordonez drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning.

New York’s fifth straight win was also the club’s M.L.-leading 41st come-from-behind victory this season. The Mets kept their slim wild-card hopes alive and finished interleague play 7-8.

The Blue Jays dropped their sixth straight - all to N.L. teams.

Phillies 5, Yankees 4

Philadelphia

Mike Stanton forced home the winning run by walking Tony Barron in the ninth as Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep of New York.

Mickey Morandini singled off Stanton (6-1) to start the ninth but was forced at second on Gregg Jefferies’ groundout. Scott Rolen and Rico Brogna singled to load the bases, and Stanton struck out Mike Lieberthal before walking Barron on four pitches.

Reds 6, Royals 3

Cincinnati

Pokey Reese and Eddie Taubensee homered as Cincinnati scored six runs off former Reds pitcher Ricky Bones.

Rookie Brett Tomko (10-5) struck out nine in 6-2/3 innings, allowing five hits and walking five. Tomko took over the team lead in wins, bidding to become the first rookie to lead Reds pitchers since Tom Browning went 20-9 in 1985.

Cubs 10, Twins 6

Chicago

Mark Grace had a two-run homer and Ryne Sandberg and Dave Clark drove in two runs each for Chicago.

Sandberg hit a two-run double in the second and Clark had a two-run pinch single in the fifth. Grace, who drove in three runs, homered off Todd Ritchie in the eighth. Jeremi Gonzalez (11-6) became the Cubs’ winningest rookie since Mike Harkey went 12-6 in 1990.

Clearing the bases

The Expos-Red Sox game took just 1 hour, 54 minutes. … Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the left-hander who pitched for both Boston and Montreal in his 14-year major league career, took part in pregame ceremonies that featured his 3-year-old daughter Anna throwing out the first pitch. … Jeff Blauser set an Atlanta record when he was hit by a pitch for the 17th time this season.