Maddux Is Beaten on the Road

It had been nearly two years since Greg Maddux lost in some other team’s ballpark, but even the four-time Cy Young Award winner makes mistakes and the San Diego Padres hit them Thursday.

San Diego stopped Maddux’s major-league record 18-game road winning streak when Steve Finley singled in the go-ahead run in a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

“I knew it was going to end sooner or later,” said Maddux, who gave up five hits in seven innings. “Overall, I thought I pitched all right. You make mistakes in a game like that, you’re not going to win.”

Two mistakes was all it took. Tony Gwynn doubled in the fourth inning, stole third with a big jump on Maddux and scored on Ken Caminiti’s grounder to make it 1-1.

Finley, in a two-for-33 slump, then singled in Jody Reed for the game-winning hit.

Maddux (1-1) hadn’t lost on the road in the regular season since a 7-2 defeat in Montreal on June 27, 1994. He then went 18-0 in his next 20 road starts with a 0.99 earned-run average.

Winning pitcher Alan Ashby (1-0) yielded four hits in eight innings while Trevor Hoffman picked up his third save.

Montreal 6, Pittsburgh 5--Shane Andrews hit the second game-winning homer in as many days off Pirate rookie reliever Francisco Cordova, and the Expos rallied from four runs behind to win in 11 innings at Pittsburgh.

Andrews hit Cordova’s first pitch of the 11th inning over the left-field wall for his first homer. Cordova gave up Benito Santiago’s three-run homer Wednesday in Philadelphia’s 7-6 victory.

St. Louis 2, Philadelphia 1--Andy Benes gave up three hits in 7 2/3 innings and Ron Gant hit a home run for the Cardinals in St. Louis.

Benes (1-0) gave up two hits and a run in the fourth inning on Todd Zeile’s RBI single, then shut down the Phillies until pinch-hitter Pete Incaviglia got an infield hit and went to second on shortstop Royce Clayton’s throwing error with two outs in the eighth.

Houston 9, Cincinnati 4--Pitcher Shane Reynolds, winless in four decisions against the Reds last season, helped himself with his first major league home run at Cincinnati. Reynolds (1-1) gave up three runs and six hits in seven innings.

Colorado 7, New York 3--Larry Walker hit a three-run home run in the first inning at Denver. Walker hit a home run in his first at-bat this season, then got only three hits in his next 26 at-bats.