NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rockies Defeat Giants, but Lose Galarraga

Two hit batsmen helped the Colorado Rockies put the game out of reach and pulled them closer to first place. The cost, however, may have been too high for the Rockies.

Andres Galarraga suffered a broken right right hand when he was hit by a pitch during Thursday’s 5-1 victory over the Giants at San Francisco. Galarraga, who was batting .319 with 31 home runs and 85 runs batted in, was hit in the ninth inning by a pitch from reliever Dave Burba, who also hit Dante Bichette in the Rockies’ three-run inning.

“That right there, if there’s a situation that lost them the game, hitting us two was it,” said Bichette, who wasn’t injured but homered and scored twice. “I think that won the game for us.”

After Salomon Torres of the Giants broke Charlie Hayes’ cheekbone with a pitch last month, having two more players hit by San Francisco pitchers angered Colorado Manager Don Baylor.

“One guy takes it off the nose, the other guy off the forearm,” Baylor said. “You can’t let them do that. We’re not going to retaliate or anything, but we’re not going to stand back and let our guys be hit.”

Giant Manager Dusty Baker, a close friend of Baylor’s, said he hopes the situation doesn’t escalate into a beanball war.

“Clearly, in the game like that, nobody’s trying to hit anybody,” he said. “It seems like the guys who are getting hit are the guys with sort of unorthodox stances and guys that like the ball over the plate.”

The score was 1-1 until the eighth, when Joe Girardi doubled and scored the go-ahead run on an error, one of two by the Giants. Marvin Freeman (10-2) went seven strong innings for the victory, giving up one run and four hits in seven innings.

Chicago 10, Pittsburgh 3--The Cubs took a five-run lead in the first inning as Pirate starter Steve Cooke couldn’t retire a batter at Pittsburgh.

Kevin Foster (3-3) pitched out of bases-loaded jams in the first two innings to win for the first time since June 25. He yielded four hits and struck out seven.

San Diego 3, Cincinnati 2--Bip Roberts singled home Brad Ausmus from second base with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Padres.

Ausmus led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch by loser Johnny Ruffin (6-2). After Billy Bean struck out, Roberts singled home Ausmus.