Villone Earns Win In Padres’ Debut
National League
The San Diego Padres scored all 11 of their runs in the eighth inning Wednesday night, including Melvin Nieves’ grand slam, to beat San Francisco 11-3.
Ron Villone (1-0), who was obtained Monday from Seattle for Andy Benes, pitched two shutout innings of relief for his first major league victory.
San Diego tied a team record by getting nine hits in the inning. The last time the Padres scored as many runs in an inning is when they produced 13 runs off nine hits May 31, 1994, against Pittsburgh.
The onslaught came against five Giants pitchers: starter Trevor Wilson, who had a shutout through seven innings; Chris Hook; Shawn Barton; Terry Mulholland and Jose Bautista.
Dodgers 10, Rockies 7
Denver
Eric Karros drove in four runs with a pair of homers and Kevin Tapani survived a rough beginning to win his Dodgers debut as Los Angeles pulled within 1-1/2 games of N.L. Westleading Colorado.
The Dodgers won their fourth straight and remained unbeaten in five games at Coors Field this season.
Braves 7, Phillies 5
Atlanta
Slumping David Justice hit a solo homer, and Fred McGriff and Mark Lemke each had two RBIs as Atlanta held off Philadelphia for its first home victory over the Phillies in six games.
Reds 6, Mets 2
Cincinnati
David Wells got a dugout pep talk from his new boss, then pitched seven-plus innings to win his Cincinnati debut.
Wells (1-0), acquired Monday night in a trade with Detroit, allowed nine hits and struck out six over 7-1/3 innings to remain unbeaten since May 18.
Reds owner Marge Schott, with her dog in tow, sought out Wells in the dugout a few minutes before the game and had an animated conversation.
Pirates 4, Cubs 3
Pittsburgh
Jeff King hit a two-out RBI single in the 10th inning as Pittsburgh ended a four-game losing streak by beating Chicago.
Astros 4, Cardinals 2
St. Louis
Mike Simms, subbing for the injured Jeff Bagwell at first base, homered and drove in two runs as Houston defeated St. Louis.
Marlins 7, Expos 6
Montreal
Jesus Tavarez’s 10th-inning RBI single gave Florida a club-record sixth straight victory, beating Montreal.
Clearing the base
Montreal backup catcher Tim Spehr has a testicular tumor and was placed on the emergency 60-day disabled list.
Spehr, 29, will undergo surgery today and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. It is not yet known if the tumor is benign or malignant.
The ailment is the same one that sidelined John Kruk last season while he was with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Spehr was batting .257 in 35 at-bats, seeing action mainly as a late-inning defensive substitute.
Philadelphia outfielder Lenny Dykstra will miss the rest of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
The St. Louis Cardinals placed pitcher Rene Arocha on the 15-day disabled list and recalled left-hander Tom Urbani from Louisville of the American Association to take Arocha’s spot. Urbani was 2-4 with a 4.40 ERA in 12 games earlier this season with the Cardinals.