Padres Keep Pressure on With 6-5 Victory

Greg Vaughn hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning and the Padres rallied from a four-run deficit at San Diego to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5.

Vaughn’s eighth National League homer and 39th overall this season came on the first pitch from Marc Wilkins (3-3). Tony Gwynn and Ken Caminiti were on base with singles.

Prior to the game, Vaughn was hitting only .182 for the Padres since they obtained him in a trade with Milwaukee on July 31. Eight of his 17 hits with San Diego are home runs.

Steve Finley opened the eighth with a pinch-homer, his 23rd of the season, to pull San Diego to 5-3.

Dustin Hermanson (1-0) gave up one run on two hits in one inning. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 36th save.

The Padres scored two runs in the fifth including one when starter Chris Peters committed a two-base error on a pickoff attempt.

Colorado 4, Houston 2--Quinton McCracken’s two-run triple keyed a three-run rally at Houston.

Kevin Ritz (15-10) extended his team record for victories in a season. He gave up two runs and walked none in six innings.

Bill Swift, making his first relief appearance since Oct. 2, 1992, replaced Ritz and pitched a perfect seventh. Bruce Ruffin worked the ninth for his 20th save.

Chicago 3, Montreal 1--Kevin Foster pitched a six-hitter at Chicago for his first career complete game.

Foster (7-3), who has won four of five starts since being recalled from the minors Aug. 20, walked none and struck out two. He lost his shutout when he gave up a homer to David Segui with one out in the ninth.

Jose Paniagua (2-3), coming off a two-hitter against San Francisco, gave up only five hits in seven innings. But his first-inning wildness cost him.

Paniagua walked leadoff batter Brian McRae and then hit Ozzie Timmons with a pitch before Mark Grace’s infield hit loaded the bases. Luis Gonzalez then lofted a fly that left fielder Henry Rodriguez dropped, allowing McRae to score, but Rodriguez saved himself an error by forcing Timmons at third.

New York 6, Florida 1--Jason Hardtke, who doubled twice off Greg Maddux in his major league debut a day earlier, drove in three runs with a pair of singles at New York.

Kevin Brown (15-11) had his five-game winning streak stopped. He leads the majors with a 2.00 ERA, but once again got little support from Florida hitters--the Marlins have scored only eight runs in his last six starts.

Lance Johnson became the first Met player to get 200 hits in a season. He tripled, doubled and singled in four at-bats, and also stole his 50th base, tying for the NL lead.

St. Louis 6, San Francisco 2--Andy Benes won his 17th game and Ron Gant hit his 27th homer at San Francisco.

Benes (17-9) won his fourth consecutive start, giving up four hits over six innings.

The Cardinals are 2 1/2 games ahead of Houston in the Central.