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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lankford’s Blasts Carry Cardinals

Associated Press

National League

It was must-see history, and neither Ray Lankford nor Brett Tomko was about to look away.

Lankford hit two upper-deck homers a first for Cinergy Field as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals continued their home run splurge and beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 Tuesday night.

Since the stadium opened in 1970 as Riverfront, only 20 other homers have landed in the red seats that form the top deck. No one had ever hit two in one game, and only one player had as many as two in one year - George Foster, in 1977.

Lankford hit a two-run homer to right in the first inning and a solo shot in his next at-bat. The homers off Tomko (5-2) traveled an estimated 448 and 439 feet.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 5 Denver

Todd Zeile homered for the third time in two days, raising his season total to 20, and Mike Piazza drove in two runs, sending Colorado to its 11th loss in 12 games.

Chan Ho Park (7-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6-1/3 innings for Los Angeles.

Larry Walker was 0-for-4, dropping him to .406.

Phillies 8, Braves 1 Atlanta

Garrett Stephenson pitched a four-hitter and Mike Lieberthal drove in a career-high four runs as Philadelphia stopped a nine-game losing streak against Atlanta by beating the Braves.

Lieberthal hit a three-run homer in a six-run sixth inning

Astros 5, Cubs 3 Chicago

The Cubs let another one get away.

Hanging onto a one-run lead over Houston in the ninth, Mel Rojas served up a three-run, pinch homer to Bill Spiers on an 0-2 pitch, handing the Astros a comeback victory before 19,323 at Wrigley Field.

Another strong performance by Kevin Foster, who struck out 10 and allowed only two runs in 7-1/3 innings, went down the drain as Rojas blew his fifth save opportunity.

Espos 5, Marlins 0 Miami

Dustin Hermanson wasn’t out to beat his former team. Facing Florida just made his first career shutout all the more pleasurable.

Hermanson pitched a five-hitter to lead Montreal over Florida. Hermanson was acquired by Montreal with Joe Orsulak from Florida for Cliff Floyd on March 26.

Pirates 4, Mets 3 Pittsburgh

For the second straight game and the third time in four days, New York’s thin bullpen cost it.

Pittsburgh, down 3-1 in the seventh inning, came back against reliever Juan Acevedo.

Giants 16, Padres 2 San Diego

San Francisco scored 13 runs to set a modern N.L. record for runs in a seventh inning and Barry Bonds finished with two homers and five RBIs.

Clearing the bases

Montreal relief pitcher Lee Smith retired, ending his 17-year career as the all-time major league saves leader. Smith, who started his career with the Chicago Cubs in 1980, signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos this season. He had five saves in 25 games and had an 0-1 record with a 5.82 earned run average. He has 478 career saves… . New York Mets right-hander Pete Harnisch took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Tuesday night before giving up two runs in his third minor league rehabilitation start.