NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Morgan Deals Near No-Hitter for Cardinals

Mike Morgan felt he had something to prove.

“I’ve been hearing it’s a good trade for the Cubs and a bad trade for the Cardinals,” Morgan said of the trade that sent him from Chicago to St. Louis for Todd Zeile.

A 35-year-old journeyman acquired last month, Morgan threw no-hit ball for 8 1/3 innings and gave up only one hit as the Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 6-0, at St. Louis.

“I’ve been in this game 17 years, so I’ve been able to do something right,” said Morgan.

He did a lot of things right Monday, holding the Expos hitless until Wil Cordero got an infield hit on a 2-2 pitch with one out in the ninth. He was removed for Jeff Parrett, who got the last two outs.

Morgan (4-3) got pinch-hitter Curtis Pride to fly out to left for the first out in the ninth, then walked Tony Tarasco on four pitches. Cordero followed with a chop to deep third. Scott Cooper barehanded the ball, but his throw skidded past first, with Cordero taking second.

“He made a great play, but [Cordero] was too fast,” Morgan said. “What an experience to get that far.”

Morgan’s no-hit bid was preserved by a questionable call in the eighth. Second baseman Geronimo Pena went far to his left to field Rondell White’s grounder and his throw pulled first baseman John Mabry off the bag.

“It was probably a hit, but it gave me a chance going into the ninth,” Morgan said.

Colorado 15, Houston 10--Andres Galarraga collected a club-record six hits, including two home runs, and drove in five runs to power the Rockies at Denver.

Besides hitting his 15th and 16th homers, Galarraga had a double and three singles in a 6-for-6 performance, helping the Rockies raise their three-year home record against Houston to 10-1. He also scored four runs, breaking a club record, and his 13 total bases bested his own club record of 12 set eight days ago.

Galarraga’s fifth hit, a 413-foot homer off James Dougherty (3-1) in the seventh, broke a 10-10 tie. Dante Bichette added a three-run homer and Larry Walker a solo shot in the eighth.

Chicago 4, New York 2--Rey Sanchez hit his first home run since 1992, a two-run shot in the eighth inning at New York that ruined a nice outing by Met rookie Bill Pulsipher.

Pulsipher (1-3) was cruising with a four-hitter until Sanchez barely cleared the wall in right-center with two outs in the eighth. It drove in pinch-runner Scott Bullett, who came in for Scott Servais, who led off the inning with a walk, and put Chicago in front, 3-2.

Sanchez had gone 911 at-bats without a homer since Aug. 29, 1992, against Los Angeles.

San Francisco 8, Cincinnati 7--The Giants blew a five-run lead at Cincinnati, then rallied on Barry Bonds’ eight-inning homer to beat the Reds.

The Giants scored five runs in the first inning and led, 7-2, in the sixth, but wound up tied after seven. Bonds lined a two-out, solo homer--his 14th--to center field off Xavier Hernandez (5-1) to snap the tie and the Giants’ string of seven consecutive losses to the Reds.

Dave Burba (4-2) finished off Cincinnati’s tying three-run rally in the seventh, and Rod Beck retired the last three batters for his 14th save.

Florida 5, San Diego 2--Terry Pendleton drove in all of Florida’s runs and John Burkett pitched his first complete game of the season as the Marlins beat the Padres at Miami.

The switch-hitting Pendleton went three for four, including a solo home run in the third, his fifth of the year and first while hitting from the right side.

Atlanta 10, Philadelphia 4--Steve Avery (3-5) allowed only two runs in 7 1/3 innings and Charlie O’Brien and David Justice each had three runs batted in at Philadelphia as the Braves won their third consecutive game over the Phillies.

Curt Schilling (5-4) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits in four-plus innings and walking a career-high six.