No Thing of Beauty, but Reds Will Take It

The Cincinnati Reds will take a bit of luck, thank you. After all, they haven’t had much this season and will take any help they can get against Atlanta’s Greg Maddux.

The Reds used an error and two foul line-hugging, broken-bat doubles in the first inning of a 3-2 victory over Maddux on Saturday in Cincinnati, ending a 12-game losing streak against the Braves that stretches back to last season’s National League Championship Series.

“We were fortunate to get that first inning and we took advantage of it,” said Eddie Taubensee, whose RBI single completed the Reds’ inning.

“It gives us a building block, knowing we can beat this ballclub and their best pitcher with less than our healthiest lineup out there,” Manager Ray Knight said.

Mark Portugal (1-4), winless in his last nine starts, protected the lead for seven innings to get his first victory since Sept. 29. He struck out four and gave up six hits, including solo homers by Fred McGriff and Javy Lopez.

Portugal narrowly pitched out of a threat in the first inning, when the Braves got a single and a walk and McGriff flied out to the wall in right field. The three runs in the bottom of the inning gave him confidence.

“That just put me a little at ease,” Portugal said. “Any time you go against Maddux, you know you can’t afford to give up too much because he’s not one to give up anything. We were fortunate to get the early runs.”

Maddux (5-4), a four-time Cy Young Award winner who lost only twice last season, has struggled against Cincinnati, with a 10-11 lifetime record.

“Maddux was just about perfect today,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said. “We could have had a three-run first inning. McGriff’s ball just missed. Just one of those days. We couldn’t generate any runs.”

They have scored 11 in the two-game series, eight on solo homers that pushed their league-leading total to 77.

Colorado 2, Pittsburgh 0--Dante Bichette’s two-run single in the second inning, the only hit Paul Wagner gave up in seven innings, led the Rockies to a victory at Pittsburgh.

The combined shutout by Kevin Ritz, Steve Reed, Lance Painter and Bruce Ruffin was Colorado’s first this season. It had only one last season.

Wagner (4-5) struck out 10, but control cost him the two runs. He issued one-out walks to Ritz and Eric Young in the second inning. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Ellis Burks struck out, Bichette lined a single to left.

San Diego 8, Philadelphia 3--Steve Finley hit a grand slam and Ken Caminiti had a three-run homer for the Padres, who won at Philadelphia.

Sean Bergman (3-5) pitched the Padres to their eighth win in 10 games. He gave up two runs and five hits in five innings.

The homer was Finley’s seventh. He leads the Padres, who have an NL-low 36 homers.

Chicago 5, Florida 4--Scott Servais homered with one out in the 10th inning and Turk Wendell (4-1) struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to give the Cubs a win at Miami.

Al Leiter, honored before the game for pitching the Marlins’ first no-hitter, on May 11, took a 3-0 lead into the eighth inning. But the Cubs, held to two hits at that point, scored four runs off him and Robb Nen, who had converted 11 save chances in a row before blowing this one.

Montreal 5, San Francisco 1--Jeff Fassero pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and F.P. Santangelo hit a three-run homer for the Expos, who won at home and, in the process, sent the Giants to their seventh loss in nine games.

The Giants have scored only 17 runs over those nine games.

St. Louis 5, Houston 4--Tom Pagnozzi hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Cardinals a come-from-behind win.

The Cardinals trailed, 3-0, and, 4-2, before tying the game on Luis Alicea’s two-run homer in the ninth off Astro closer Todd Jones.