Wild Pitch Produces Giant Win

As the ball rolled away from catcher Charles Johnson, Marvin Benard had only a split second to decide whether to try to score.

He sure wasn’t getting any help from his manager and teammates.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” San Francisco manager Dusty Baker said. “We were thinking: ‘Go! No! Go! No!’ ”

Benard scored from third on Florida pitcher Pat Rapp’s wild pitch in the 15th inning Tuesday, giving the Giants a 9-8 victory over the Marlins at San Francisco.

Benard’s chance came when Rapp wild-pitched while trying to intentionally walk Matt Williams. The ball tipped off Johnson’s glove, fell behind him, and while the catcher had trouble locating it, Benard broke for the plate. He scored just ahead of Johnson’s throw, sliding under Rapp’s tag.

Rapp (3-9) didn’t think Benard was safe.

“I blocked the plate--I have the spike marks to prove it,” he said.

The Giants had blown an 8-3 lead with two outs in the ninth when the Marlins rallied for five runs, capped by Gary Sheffield’s game-tying, three-run home run--his second homer of the game--off Rod Beck.

Atlanta 5, San Diego 3--Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning at Atlanta to lift the Braves and hand the Padres their 14th loss in 16 games.

Jones hit a 1-0 pitch from Joey Hamilton (8-4) over the left-field fence for his 11th homer.

The Padres, who stranded 14 baserunners, fell a game behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

Brad Clontz (4-2) picked up the win.

Cincinnati 6, Houston 4--Eric Davis homered leading off the 10th inning and Jeff Branson brought in another run with a squeeze bunt at Houston.

Davis hit an 0-1 pitch from Xavier Hernandez (0-3) over the left-field scoreboard for his 14th homer this season.

The Astros had tied it 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth on Bill Spiers’ third homer this season on a 3-2 pitch from Jeff Brantley (1-1).

Houston starter Darryl Kile matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts.

Montreal 12, Colorado 8--Mike Lansing hit two homers, including a grand slam in the eighth inning, and drove in seven runs to power the Expos at Denver after the Rockies had erased a 7-3 deficit with four runs in the seventh.

Mike Dyer (4-2) got two outs in the seventh. Darren Holmes (2-2) took the loss.

St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 2--Donovan Osborne pitched seven strong innings and David Bell and Royce Clayton had rare RBIs at St. Louis as the Cardinals won their fourth consecutive game.

They have fought back to .500 at 34-34 for the first time since April 26, while the Phillies lost for the 11th time in 12 games.

Osborne (6-3) won for the fifth time in six decisions. Dennis Eckersley recorded his 11th save. Sid Fernandez (3-5) took the loss.