Rockies Pitcher Wins On ‘4-Hitter’

National League

Rookie pitcher John Thomson collected his first four major league hits, drove in three runs and earned his first victory with a seven-hitter Sunday to lead the Colorado Rockies past the Florida Marlins 9-2 in Miami.

Colorado’s Andres Galarraga, who hit a 529-foot grand slam Saturday, settled for a 360-foot triple, a double and a single. He needed a home run for the first cycle in Rockies history, but popped out in the eighth.

Quinton McCracken and Vinny Castilla homered for the Rockies, who had 17 hits.

Thomson (1-4), recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs last month, had lost each of his previous four starts. He allowed three hits and two runs in the first inning, then settled down. The right-hander struck out six and walked two for the Rockies’ fifth complete game.

Mets 8, Phillies 5

New York

The surprising New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia with a win that sent the team eight games over .500.

Before a crowd of 42,058 - the largest at Shea Stadium since opening day last year - the Mets won for the 15th time in 20 games.

The Mets, however, lost flashy shortstop Rey Ordonez to a broken left hand.

Pirates 11, Expos 2

Pittsburgh

Jose Guillen’s homer finished off Pittsburgh’s five-run first inning and Francisco Cordova, given some rare offensive support, shook off a shaky start.

The Pirates outscored Montreal 23-4 while winning the first and last games of the three-game series, including Friday’s 10-2 victory, but lost the middle game 4-2 Saturday.

Braves 4, Giants 3

Atlanta

Ryan Klesko homered in his third consecutive game and Jeff Blauser hit a tie-breaking home run in the eighth inning for Atlanta.

Atlanta’s fifth starter, Terrell Wade, gave up three runs in the first, but rebounded to pitch six strong innings while the Braves got back in the game.

Cubs 7, Reds 1

Chicago

Jeremi Gonzalez won his second straight start since being promoted to the majors and Ryne Sandberg drove in three runs for Chicago.

Shawon Dunston hit a pair of RBI singles as the Cubs won for the fifth time in seven games.

Padres 6, Astros 3

Houston

Pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn singled home two runs and Ken Caminiti hit a two-run double as San Diego rallied in the eighth inning to defeat Houston.

Shut out on one hit for seven innings by Mike Hampton, the Padres overcame a 3-0 deficit in the eighth for their third straight win.

Dodgers 6, Cardinals 1

St. Louis

Mike Piazza, Eric Karros and Todd Zeile hit consecutive home runs and Los Angeles ended an eight-game road losing streak.

Dodgers rookie second baseman Wilton Guerrero was ejected in the first inning for using an illegal bat. He shattered his bat while grounding out to lead off the game and, while picking up the pieces, plate umpire Steve Rippley noticed it had been altered.

Los Angeles last hit three homers in a row last June 30 when Piazza, Karros and Raul Mondesi did it against Colorado.

Clearing the bases

The Marlins’ home attendance average rose to 28,756, compared with 21,835 last year. … San Francisco finished 14-14 in May after going 17-7 in April, marking the first time since 1993 that the Giants have gone two straight months without a losing record. … The Pittsburgh Pirates last were at .500 so deep into the season in 1993, the year after they last won a division title.

Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg is two hits shy of becoming the 109th player in major league history to reach 2,300 career hits. … John Mabry had three hits for the Cardinals, extending his career-best hitting streak to 12 games.