Giants Closing On Flag
National League
Brian Johnson continues to torment the Los Angeles Dodgers even from 800 miles away.
Johnson hit his second game-winning home run in seven days as the San Francisco Giants reduced their magic number to two over the Dodgers in the N.L. West, beating the Colorado Rockies 4-3 Wednesday.
Johnson, who beat the Dodgers with a homer in the 12th inning last Thursday, broke a 3-3 tie with his 11th homer of the season off reliever Steve Reed (4-6).
“Just about every night when I go to bed I imagine it,” Johnson said when asked about hitting game-winning homers. “Imagining is the easy part. I’ll never get used to it. I’m too paranoid and superstitious for that.”
Later, Los Angeles lost to San Diego 4-1. That defeat dropped the Dodgers 2-1/2 games behind the Giants.
San Francisco has three games left, all at home against the Padres, while Los Angeles finishes with four games at Colorado.
Roberto Hernandez (5-2) pitched two hitless innings for the win, San Francisco’s 23rd in the final at-bat.
The Rockies, 11 games back on Aug. 30, were eliminated from playoff contention.
Padres 4, Dodgers 1 Los Angeles
Los Angeles dropped 2-1/2 games behind as Ken Caminiti hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer for San Diego in the fifth inning.
Dodgers slugger Mike Piazza, who went 1 for 4, was removed from the game because of an injured left hand in the ninth inning. He sustained the injury on a pitch from Scott Radinsky that hit Tony Gwynn. Dodgers trainer Charlie Strasser said Piazza suffered a bruise of the forearm and is day-to-day.
Gwynn, trying for his eighth N.L. batting championship, went 2 for 4 and was hit by a pitch, leaving him with a .374 average - eight points ahead of Colorado’s Larry Walker.
Cubs 3, Astros 1 Houston
Houston, having been assured a tie for the division title earlier, missed a chance to clinch the N.L. Central with a loss to Chicago.
Houston’s magic number was cut to one when second-place Pittsburgh lost to the New York Mets 7-5.
The Astros can win the title with a victory over the Cubs tonight. Houston finishes the season with three games at home against Pittsburgh.
Mets 7, Pirates 5 New York
Pittsburgh moved to the brink of elimination in the N.L. Central, allowing a grand slam to John Olerud in a six-run sixth inning and losing to New York.
Reds 5, Cardinals 4 St. Louis
Mark McGwire hit one home run - his 55th - and just missed another, pulling within six of Roger Maris’ single-season record of 61, but St. Louis lost to Cincinnati.
McGwire’s line drive over the left-field fence established a major-league record of 107 homers in consecutive seasons by a right-handed batter, breaking the mark set by Jimmie Foxx with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1932 and 1933.
Phillies 5 Braves 1 Philadelphia
Garrett Stephenson pitched a four-hitter as Philadelphia defeated Atlanta.
Marlins 10, Expos 9 Montreal
Russ Morman hit a two-run homer and three Montreal errors keyed a seven-run first inning that carried Florida to a win over the Expos.
Clearing the bases
New York Mets catcher Todd Hundley will have a ligament replaced in his right elbow on Friday and probably will miss the first half of the 1998 season. … Minor league pitcher Doug Million, 21, the Colorado Rockies’ first pick of the 1994 amateur draft, died early Wednesday after an asthma attack.
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has exercised his option to manage the team through 1999, the Cardinals announced. The Cards also signed General Manager Walt Jocketty to a three-year contract extension through the 2000 season. … Greg Maddux (19-4) will start for the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the N.L. divisional playoffs next week, followed by Tom Glavine (14-7) and John Smoltz (15-12).
The Rockies are one win from matching their franchise record for wins in a season (83). They were 83-79 last year. … A crowd of 39,184 attended the regular-season finale at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers attracted 3,318,886 fans at home - the fifth-highest total in their history and the most since 1991 when they drew 3,348,170.