Fernandez Victor As Marlins Rally
Alex Fernandez won his fifth consecutive start and Jeff Conine hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the eighth inning Wednesday night as the Florida Marlins rallied to beat the Houston Astros 8-6 in Houston.
Fernandez (15-8), who has not lost since July 18, struck out 10 - matching his season high - in six innings. He allowed five runs - three earned - and nine hits, walking three.
Mets 5, Cards 4 (10) St. Louis
Pinch-hitter Butch Huskey singled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as New York overcame two homers by Mark McGwire to beat St. Louis.
McGwire, who also homered Tuesday, raised his home-run total to 38 with the 40th multihomer game of his career.
Pirates 2, Braves 1 Atlanta
A new lineup didn’t change things for Atlanta as Jon Lieber won for the first time in more than a month, allowing one run in 6-1/3 innings as Pittsburgh beat the Braves.
The Braves, hitting .207 in their previous 13 games, shook up the middle of the lineup in hopes of producing more runs. Fred McGriff was dropped to sixth in the batting order, Ryan Klesko moved up to third and Chipper Jones took over the cleanup duties.
Cubs 6, Giants 5 San Francisco
Sammy Sosa homered and had a two-run double as Chicago beat San Francisco in a game that featured a bench-clearing melee over a hit batter and two ejections.
Sosa hit his 26th homer of the season, a solo shot, in the fourth.
Phillies 12, Rockies 8 Denver
Mike Lieberthal had four hits, including a three-run homer, and pitcher Mark Leiter contributed a two-run single as Philadelphia beat Colorado.
Dodgers 3, Expos 1 Los Angeles
Tom Candiotti allowed three hits in seven innings, and Adam Riggs singled home the go-ahead run for his first major-league RBI as Los Angeles beat Montreal.
Candiotti (9-4) won for the fourth time in five decisions, allowing his only run in the sixth on Mike Lansing’s 15th homer.
Reds 2, Padres 0 San Diego
Mike Morgan, who took a perfect game into the seventh inning before Mark Sweeney broke up his bid, led Cincinnati over San Diego.
Clearing the bases
Two of New York Mets outfielder Carl Everett’s children will remain in foster care after a Family Court judge denied the player’s request Wednesday that they be returned home. The children were taken into city custody last Thursday, after a child care worker at Shea Stadium noticed bruises on 5-year-old Shawna.
In another decision eroding baseball’s disciplinary power, an arbitrator ordered that all players must be paid during suspensions for on-field misconduct. In a case involving Ron Gant, Terry Pendleton and Xavier Hernandez, arbitrator Nicholas Zumas decided withholding the pay of suspended players amounted to “an improper fine” even if their contracts contained clauses specifically giving teams the right not to pay them during bans.
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot and wounded Wednesday by a gunman angry over her support of a new major league ballpark in Phoenix.