Rockies Win Behind Walker’s Catch

Larry Walker found something that feels just as good as hitting a clutch home run--taking one away.

Walker stretched over the right-field wall to take a two-run homer away from the Reds on Wednesday, helping the Colorado Rockies hold on for a 5-3 victory at Cincinnati.

Vinny Castilla and Ellis Burks homered for the Rockies, but it was Walker’s catch that made the difference. He robbed Jon Nunnally in the sixth inning, then threw to first to complete a double play and preserve a two-run lead.

“It was good to do that because I was [awful] during the series,” said Walker, who went hitless in the two games as his average dropped to .373. “To me it’s like hitting a two-run homer--maybe better because it would have tied the game.”

Instead, it preserved a 2-0 lead that the Rockies never relinquished. The Rockies wound up splitting their two-game series in one of their toughest ballparks--Colorado finished 2-3 at Cincinnati this season and is 8-20 there overall.

Frank Castillo (10-10) gave up only three hits over seven innings as he improved to 4-1 since coming to the Rockies in a July 15 trade with the Chicago Cubs. He lost his shutout when Eduardo Perez hit a solo homer with one out in the seventh.

Atlanta 3, Houston 1--Tom Glavine won for the first time in six starts since July 16, stopping his longest winless streak in seven years as the Braves won at Houston.

“Finally, a month later,” Glavine said. “I’ve actually pitched pretty well lately and not gotten anything out of it. Pitching well, you can only take that so far and it gets frustrating. It’s hard when you’re pitching well and not winning, especially when the team is not winning.”

Glavine (11-6) gave up two hits and five walks in seven innings and struck out a season-high nine. He also drove in a run with a squeeze bunt as the Braves completed a two-game sweep following a slump that saw them lose four of five.

Glavine had four no-decisions and a loss during his winless streak, the first time he went five consecutive starts without a victory since a seven-start span from July 22-Aug. 30, 1990. After losing his first eight career decisions in the Astrodome, he has won six in a row at Houston.

Mark Wohlers pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 35 chances.

Pittsburgh 7, San Diego 3--Jason Schmidt won his fourth decision in a row and had a key run-scoring single in the Pirates’ go-ahead sixth inning at Pittsburgh.

The Pirates, a season-low seven games behind .500 as late as June 30, evened their record at 63-63--their best at this stage of the season since they last reached postseason play in 1992.

“Once we fell seven games out, I honestly didn’t know if we’d ever get back to .500,” Pittsburgh Manager Gene Lamont said. “If you are seven games under .500, there’s a reason for it, but I think everybody starting wondering if we were for real when we won four in a row in St. Louis and beat the White Sox three in a row.”

Schmidt (8-6) gave up six hits in 8 1/3 innings, and remained unbeaten in six starts since July 20 as the Pirates won their third in a row.

St. Louis 6, Montreal 3--Brian Jordan hit a tie-breaking double during a three-run eighth inning at Montreal and the Cardinals won their third consecutive game.

Montreal starter Pedro Martinez struck out 13 in 6 2/3 innings, including seven in a row in the middle of the game. Martinez wound up with a no-decision after giving up three hits and two unearned runs, lowering his major league-best earned-run average to 1.64.

“No one told me it was going to be easy,” Martinez said. “I had control problems, but all you can do is battle. It was one of those days where everything went wrong.”

Rookie Curtis King (3-0), who gave up Ryan McGuire’s tying run-scoring single in the seventh, was the winner.

Dennis Eckersley pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 34 chances, sending Montreal to its seventh loss in eight games.

Florida 6, Chicago 5--Unbeaten rookie Livan Hernandez earned his seventh victory and Gary Sheffield hit his 14th homer to lead the Marlins at Miami.

Florida improved to 7-0 this season against Chicago and climbed 21 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history. The Marlins had been 0-5 this year when 20 games above .500.

Hernandez won despite giving up four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

San Francisco at Philadelphia--The game never started and was called after a wait of nearly two hours. San Francisco and the Phillies will tentatively make up the game on Sept. 11 at Philadelphia, pending the expected approval of the players’ union.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Javy Lopez Atlanta 3 for 4, home run, 2 doubles Win Gary Sheffield Florida 2 for 4, 2 RBIs, home run Win Tom Lampkin St. Louis 2 for 2, 2 RBIs, home run Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Tom Glavine Atlanta 7 innings, 2 hits, 9 strikeouts, no runs Win Frank Castillo Colorado 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 6 strikeouts Win Pe. Martinez Montreal 6 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 13 strikeouts Loss

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