Knight Makes Right Call as Burba’s Hit Wins It

Ray Knight called it the most gut-wrenching decision of his rookie season as a manager.

His Cincinnati Reds had loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning of a scoreless game. Should he send up a pinch-hitter instead of pitcher Dave Burba, batting .097?

Knight stuck with Burba, and his instinct was rewarded when Burba lined a two-run single between third and shortstop, leading the Reds to a 3-1 victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia on Wednesday.

“We’re going to find out right here if I’ve been living right,” Knight said. “He was throwing so well, I just decided to let him hit.”

Burba (6-9) had looked awful striking out in his two previous at-bats against Mike Williams.

Williams (3-9) had gotten Burba out earlier with sliders, but the first slider he threw in the seventh didn’t break sharply. Burba, who had homered in each of his last two starts, said he waited for another.

“Like I’ve always said, I’m swinging just in case,” Burba said. “He threw me another [slider] and I swung and I hit it. Luckily I hit it in the hole.”

Atlanta 4, St. Louis 1--Rookie Terrell Wade, summoned from the bullpen to start in place of Steve Avery, who is on the disabled list, held the Cardinals to one run on two hits in five innings as the Braves completed a three-game sweep at St. Louis.

Wade (3-0), whose previous 30 appearances have been in relief, struck out eight, walked two and lowered his ERA to 1.05.

Houston 6, San Diego 4--Pinch-hitter Ray Montgomery’s first major league home run, a two-run shot in the 10th inning, gave the Astros the victory at Houston.

Ricky Gutierrez singled in the 10th off Ron Villone. Montgomery, a rookie who had one hit in six at-bats this season, followed with the game-deciding blast.

Xavier Hernandez (3-4) pitched the 10th for the victory. San Diego’s John Flaherty extended his hitting streak to 25 games.

Colorado 7, New York 6--Vinny Castilla singled over center fielder Carl Everett in the 10th inning as the Rockies defeated the Mets and moved into first place in the NL West.

Colorado, which overcame a 4-1 deficit, completed a three-game sweep. Curtis Leskanic (7-3) pitched the 10th to win a game delayed by rain for 29 minutes in the top of the ninth.

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 4--Jermaine Allensworth, playing in only his second major league game, singled home the winning run in the ninth inning at Pittsburgh, giving the Pirates their first three-game winning streak at home this season.

Chicago 7, San Francisco 1--A four-run second inning was enough to put the Cubs on top for good at San Francisco, where the Giants’ Matt Williams hit his 21st homer in the ninth.