Ex-Mariner Halts Angels
Interleague
Paul Menhart earned his first National League win and John Flaherty and Ken Caminiti each had three hits as the San Diego Padres opened the third round of interleague play with a 9-2 victory over the Anaheim Angels Thursday night at San Diego.
San Diego improved to 5-6 in interleague play while the Angels fell to 2-9. The game drew 18,203 - San Diego’s average home attendance is 26,001.
Menhart (1-2) was making his fourth start since his contract was purchased from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 11. He was acquired earlier this year in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.
Flaherty was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and Caminiti was 3 for 5 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.
Dodgers 7, Athletics 1
Los Angeles
Hideo Nomo pitched effectively into the eighth inning, and Todd Zeile and Raul Mondesi each contributed two-run singles as Los Angeles beat Oakland.
A crowd of 51,392 saw Los Angeles steal a season-high seven bases in the interleague game. The Dodgers have been averaging 39,882 at home.
Nomo (13-10) allowed four hits and struck out nine, allowing him to pass the 200-mark for the third consecutive season.
Rangers 11, Giants 5
San Francisco
A catcher’s interference call started a seven-run rally in the ninth inning, highlighted by pinch-hitter Mike Simms’ three-run double, leading Texas over San Francisco.
The Rangers broke loose against Giants closer Rod Beck for their biggest inning of the season, dropping San Francisco 2-1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the N.L. West.
The Giants had been 62-1 when leading after eight innings before Beck’s sixth blown save in 40 chances.
Infection sidelines Butler
Los Angeles outfielder Brett Butler, bothered by what is believed to be a soft tissue infection in his neck not related to the cancer he had last year, missed his second straight game Thursday night.
Butler, sidelined most of the 1996 season because of tonsil cancer, didn’t play Wednesday, instead returning to his home in Atlanta.
Butler, 40, is hitting .293 with no homers, 16 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in what he has said repeatedly will be his final season.
Clearing the bases
Montreal’s Mike Lansing extended his hitting streak to 13 games… . All 11 games between the Braves and the Astros were decided by two runs or less… . Sammy Sosa set a Cubs one-season record in the 10th inning, when he struck out for the 144th time… . San Diego’s Greg Vaughn, who became the everyday left fielder when Rickey Henderson was traded, is 5 for 54 since then… . Left-handed pitcher Rich Ankiel, 18, drafted in the second round by St. Louis, signed for a record $2.5 million bonus.