Reds Stack Upper Deck Against Astros

In the first 32 years of the Houston Astrodome, only seven balls were hit into the upper deck. This week, it has been done twice.

“I knew I hit it really well,” Willie Greene said after his three-run homer led the Reds, 4-2, over the Astros on Friday.

Cincinnati, which extended a winning streak to five for the first time in nearly a year, trailed, 2-0, in the fourth inning. Tommy Greene (0-1) walked Curtis Goodwin and Lenny Harris and Willie Greene sent a 1-and-0 fastball into the upper deck in right field for his 12th homer.

“I couldn’t find it, then I finally saw it hit in the upper deck,” said Greene, who wasn’t aware that his was only the ninth to reach that level.

It was the second upper-deck shot in a five-game span. Cleveland’s Manny Ramirez hit an upper-deck shot to left Monday off Blas Minor.

Atlanta 6, Montreal 3--Mark Lemke’s two-run triple with one out in the ninth inning lifted the visiting Braves.

With the score tied, 3-3, Andruw Jones hit an infield single off Ugueth Urbina (2-6) to start the ninth, and stole second as Javy Lopez struck out. Pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko was walked intentionally and Lemke followed with a triple down the left-field line, sending the Braves to their fourth straight win and ninth in 10 games.

Lemke then scored on reliever Omal Daal’s error on pinch-hitter Keith Lockhart’s bunt attempt. Brad Clontz (4-1) pitched one inning of relief for the win. Mark Wohlers got three outs for his 19th save.

Atlanta has won six consecutive games against Montreal, and 16 of 19 since the start of last season. The Expos have lost three in a row and seven of 11.

Pittsburgh 7, St. Louis 5--Pirate outfielder Mark Smith had not previously faced Cardinal reliever Dennis Eckersley.

But he knew what to look for when he saw him in the 10th inning at St. Louis.

Smith got the pitch he wanted, a fastball on the outer part of the plate, and he drove it over the right-field wall.

“I was just looking fastball away,” said Smith, who had three hits. “I know he throws that sweeping slider, but I wanted to get that first-strike swing at a fastball, and he threw me a first-pitch fastball.”

Dale Sveum had kept the Pirate inning going when he doubled with two outs. Smith followed with his second home run.

Smith’s homer capped a late rally by the Pirates, who trailed, 5-3, after seven innings.

“We’ve had some games where we’ve come back like that but we haven’t won one, so hopefully that will get us over the hump,” Pittsburgh Manager Gene Lamont said.

Marc Wilkins (6-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the first victory by a Pirate reliever since June 6. Rich Loiselle retired the Cardinals in the 10th for his 10th save.

Chicago 9, Philadelphia 3--Pitcher Terry Mulholland drove in the go-ahead run with the first of his two doubles as the Cubs handed the Phillies their 11th consecutive defeat.

Ryne Sandberg went three for five with a homer and two RBIs, and Dave Hansen had two hits and drove in two runs for Chicago at Philadelphia. The Cubs have won five consecutive games--their best streak since an eight-game run in 1995.

The Phillies’ streak of futility is their worst since they lost 11 consecutive in 1989.

Mulholland (6-9) started the season 0-3, then went 5-1 before losing five consecutive decisions. He gave up five hits and three runs in five innings, walking two and striking out four. Kent Bottenfield got his second save with four shutout innings.

Mulholland spotted the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the first on Kevin Sefcik’s two-run homer--his first in 164 major-league at-bats. But Mulholland drove in the final run in a three-run second against Scott Ruffcorn (0-3), putting Chicago ahead to stay.

Sandberg’s RBI double and Kevin Orie’s sacrifice fly had made the score 2-2 before Mulholland doubled in Scott Servais.

New York 6, Florida 2--There were times last summer, when he was teaching at Bucky Dent’s baseball school in Florida, that Todd Pratt thought he might never get another chance to play in the major leagues.

Which made his performance even more special.

Pratt celebrated his return to the majors with his first homer since 1994 and drove in three runs as the Mets ended a four-game losing streak, beating the visiting Marlins.

Pratt, promoted from triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, wasted no time making an impression on his new team. The 30-year-old backup catcher hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat and had an RBI single his next time up.

The Mets, outscored, 41-17, during their recent slide, fell behind on Gary Sheffield’s two-run homer in the first inning. But Rick Reed (6-4) and two relievers blanked the Marlins the rest of the way.

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Willie Greene

Team: Cincinnati

Performance: 3 RBIs, upper-deck HR

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Todd Pratt

Team: New York

Performance: 2 for 3, 3 RBIs, HR

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Mark Lemke

Team: Atlanta

Performance: Game-winning, 2-run triple

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

Player: Shawn Estes

Team: San Francisco

Performance: 8 2/3innings, 1 hit, 11 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Rick Reed

Team: New York

Performance: 6 innings, 6 hits, 6 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Terry Mulholland

Team: Chicago

Performance: 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs--but hit 2 doubles

Team’s Result: Win