Finley’s Home Run Gives Padres Victory

Steve Finley hit a two-run homer off reliever Joe Boever with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the San Diego Padres to a dramatic, 6-5, victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at San Diego.

With their fourth consecutive win, the Padres remain .001 behind the Dodgers in the National League West. The Pirates lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

With the Padres trailing, 5-4, and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Wally Joyner drew a walk off Boever (0-1) to set up Finley, who hit Boever’s 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall for his 24th homer.

Trevor Hoffman (8-4) was credited with the win, despite giving up a run in the top of the ninth.

Colorado 9, Atlanta 8--Andres Galarraga hit his NL-leading 42nd home run and the Rockies broke their own major league record for most home-field homers at Denver.

Trailing, 5-0, in the fourth inning, the Rockies rallied to win their third consecutive game. The Braves fell to 2-6 in September.

Galarraga’s homer was Colorado’s 135th of the season in 70 games at Coors Field. Last season, the Rockies set a record with 134 homers at home in 72 games.

“We hit the ball good today but they just outhit us again,’ Atlanta’s Ryan Klesko said. “It’s important for them to win, it’s also important for us. But they have their backs against the wall and they have to win every game they can.”

Galarraga hit a solo home run with two outs in the seventh, tying the game and igniting a four-run inning that made it 9-6. Darren Holmes (4-4) pitched the seventh for the win.

Atlanta’s Javy Lopez hit a two-run single in the ninth off Bruce Ruffin, who got his 21st save. Tom Glavine, who pitched the first shutout at Coors Field, gave up five runs, three of them earned, in 6 1/3 innings for Atlanta.

St. Louis 1, San Francisco 0--Mark Petkovsek, replacing Alan Benes in the rotation, had his second strong start of the season against the Giants, combining with four relievers on a five-hit shutout at San Francisco.

Ray Lankford hit a run-scoring double in the sixth inning to score the game’s only run as the Cardinals gained their 10th win in 11 games. The Giants have lost 10 of 11 games and five in a row.

“It’s been happening for us all year, but in the last two weeks is when it’s really happened,” said Dennis Eckersley, who got the last four outs for his 350th career save and 27th of the season. “It’s like we’re all thinking, ‘Let’s go. Let’s kill those last 20 games.’ ”

Petkovsek (11-2) is 3-0 in his five spot starts this season, including 2-0 with a 0.90 earned-run average against the Giants.

Houston 4, Philadelphia 3--Craig Biggio’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly completed a three-run rally to lead the Astros at Houston.

The Astros trailed, 3-1, when Orlando Miller, pinch-hitter Derrick May and Brian Hunter started the eighth with singles against Curt Schilling (7-8), scoring a run.

After John Cangelosi grounded out, pinch-runner James Mouton scored on Schilling’s wild pitch to tie the game. Biggio followed with a fly ball that put Houston ahead.

Chicago 10, Montreal 3--Ozzie Timmons hit a two-run homer and Luis Gonzalez singled in two runs as the Cubs survived a poor outing by starter Frank Castillo at Chicago.

Montreal set an NL record and matched the major league mark by using nine pitchers. Starter Omar Daal lasted only two-thirds of an inning, and eight relievers followed. The St. Louis Browns used nine pitchers in a game in 1949.

Florida 9, New York 3--Edgar Renteria’s leadoff homer in the 12th inning started a six-run inning that gave the Marlins a victory over the Mets at New York.

Renteria, who also had three singles, hit the first pitch from Doug Henry (2-8) for his fourth homer of the season.

Pinch-hitter Jerry Brooks then had a two-run triple and Alex Arias and Kurt Abbott added two-run doubles for the Marlins. Jay Powell (4-1) pitched two perfect innings for the victory.