BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Rockies Crush Cubs, Close In on Dodgers

Back home, the Colorado Rockies quickly got back into the swing.

Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga homered and Roger Bailey won his first major league start as the Rockies defeated the Chicago Cubs, 12-5, Thursday night at Denver to move to within a game of the division-leading Dodgers in the NL West.

The victory came in the opener of a 10-game home stand, the Rockies’ longest of the season. It also followed a 2-7 trip that dropped them out of first place in the division.

“In this ballpark, you don’t have to pull the ball. It’s when our guys go the other way where our guys are successful,” Colorado Manager Don Baylor said after watching his team collect 14 hits. “It’s on the road where everyone wants to pull the ball into the seats, and that’s been a problem for us.”

Castilla drove in three runs and Bichette and Eric Young each had two RBIs. Galarraga scored four times.

Bailey (4-5) gave up nine hits and five runs in eight innings as the Rockies won for only the third time in their last 11 games.

“Bailey gave us all we needed,” Baylor said. “He gave up four straight hits in the second inning, but I kept thinking I can’t go to the bullpen.”

The Rockies hit Chicago starter Jaime Navarro (10-5) hard. Navarro, who lost for the first time in five starts, gave up eight runs on nine hits in five-plus innings.

“He started to get it up in the third inning,” Chicago Manager Jim Riggleman said. “When you do that in this park, their guys are going to make you pay for it.”

Philadelphia 3, Houston 2--Pinch-hitter Gary Varsho hit a two-run single in the eighth inning as the Phillies won at Houston for only their third victory in 15 games.

Paul Fletcher (1-0) got the final two outs in the seventh, and Toby Borland pitched the final two innings for his fourth save.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Texas 2, Chicago 1--Craig Worthington, called up from the minor leagues just before the game, hit a one-out solo home run in the top of the 10th inning as the Rangers stayed ahead in the AL wild-card race by beating the White Sox at Chicago.

Worthington, acquired in a trade with Cincinnati on Wednesday, drove a 396-foot homer to center field off reliever Matt Karchner (1-1).

Milwaukee 7, Cleveland 3-- Backed by three home runs, rookie Jamie McAndrew pitched eight-plus strong innings for his first major league victory as the Brewers beat the Indians at Cleveland.

Dave Nilsson, Jose Valentin and John Jaha homered for the Brewers, who stayed in the thick of the AL wild-card race but remained 16 games behind Central-leading Cleveland.

Kansas City 3, Baltimore 2-- Pinch-hitter Gary Gaetti led off the 10th inning with a home run at Baltimore, as the Royals handed the Orioles their 14th loss in 18 games.

Former Oriole Gregg Olson (1-0), who pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, earned his first major league victory since June 22, 1992.

Toronto 3, Detroit 0--Al Leiter gave up only three hits in eight innings as the Blue Jays beat the Tigers at Detroit to move out of last place in the AL East.

Toronto moved a half-game ahead of Detroit into fourth place. Except for a one-day tie with the Tigers on Aug. 11, it’s the first time the two-time World Series champion Blue Jays have been out of last place.

Oakland 3, Seattle 2--Consecutive throwing errors by Mariner third baseman Mike Blowers allowed the Athletics to score twice in the bottom of the ninth inning in a victory at Oakland.

With one out, Blowers backhanded a smash by Craig Paquette, but threw it past first baseman Tino Martinez. The next batter, Stan Javier, hit a ball to Blowers’ left, and he again threw it past Martinez, allowing Paquette to score and Javier to reach third.

With two out, Scott Brosius lined a single off Norm Charlton (2-6) to left to drive in the winning run.