Braves’ Ph Looks Grand

National League

Manager Bobby Cox had trouble believing what he had just seen, a grand slam by pinch hitter Dwight Smith with two outs in the ninth inning that gave Steve Avery and the Atlanta Braves a 4-0 victory over the visiting Florida Marlins on Friday.

“I don’t know how he did it,” Cox said. “He’s got a huge hematoma. It’s like a baseball.”

Smith strained a ligament in his upper left arm in batting practice on Wednesday, an injury that became bruised and filled with blood. He told Cox he’d be available to pinch hit or run in the game, but knew he couldn’t play.

“That swing didn’t hurt at all,” Smith said of the 3-1 pitch from reliever Richie Lewis that carried over the right-field fence for his second homer of the year. It lifted his average as a pinch hitter this year to .500 (5 for 10) with seven RBIs.

Astros 10, Expos 2

Houston Tony Eusebio hit the first grand slam of his career and Jeff Bagwell hit a two-run homer as Houston overcame the ejection of pitcher Darryl Kile to beat Montreal.

Mets 5, Phillies 1

Philadelphia

Rico Brogna hit a threerun homer in the seventh inning and New York beat Philadelphia, just the Phillies’ third loss in 15 games.

Reds 2, Rockies 0

Cincinnati Pete Schourek pitched eight strong innings and Cincinnati got to .500 for the first time this season.

Pirates 8, Padres 6

San Diego

Mark Parent homered and drove in three runs as Pittsburgh won its fourth straight game.

Parent had three hits and Mark Johnson hit a two-run homer as Pittsburgh stopped the Padres’ four-game winning streak.

Giants 6, Cardinals 5

San Francisco

Matt Williams homered twice, increasing his league-leading total to 10, and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth for San Francisco.

Williams leads the National League with 27 RBIs and is among the league leaders with a .381 batting average.

Cubs 7, Dodgers 3

Los Angeles Sammy Sosa homered and drove in three runs, and Shawon Dunston hit a tie-breaking, three-run homer in the sixth inning in Chicago’s win. Sosa also doubled, walked and scored three runs.

Cox may be cleared

Atlanta’s Cox may escape charges of striking his wife if he successfully completes violence counseling and an alcohol evaluation, his lawyer said after a court appearance.

Cox agreed to counseling during a brief hearing in Cobb County Domestic Violence Court. Magistrate T.O. Sturdivant put the charges on hold for 90 days pending the counseling.

Cox, 53, was charged with simple battery May 7 after his wife called police to their home northwest of Atlanta. Pamela Cox told police her husband hit her, but she retracted the statement the next day.

Clearing the bases

Reliever Rod Beck and the Giants agreed to a one-year contract for $2,242,500, nearly triple his $750,000 salary. The settlement was midway between Beck’s request for $2,485,000 in arbitration and San Francisco’s $2 million offer… . St. Louis center fielder Ray Lankford avoided arbitration and signed a one-year deal worth $2.8 million. Lankford, 27, is in his fifth season, all with St. Louis. … Atlanta’s David Justice has reached base in all 14 games he’s played this year… . Mets starter Bret Saberhagen left the game after five innings because of shoulder stiffness.