7th Is Heaven for Giants in 16-2 Rout

The San Francisco Giants scored 13 runs to set a modern league record for runs in a seventh inning and Barry Bonds finished with two homers and five RBIs in a 16-2 rout of the Padres at San Diego Tuesday night.

The Giants sent 19 men to the plate and faced 80 pitches in the 52-minute inning. They scored seven runs before J.T. Snow grounded out to first base for the first out, drawing a loud, derisive cheer from the Padre crowd of 28,539. By then, the Giants led, 10-2.

The Giants had nine hits off four Padre pitchers, five walks and a stolen base. They benefited from two errors, a wild pitch and a hit batsman. Only one run was unearned.

Five Giants scored two runs each, including starting pitcher Kirk Rueter (6-4). The only player not to score was Snow, who struck out with the bases loaded for the second out. The inning finally ended one batter later when Jeff Kent was forced on Stan Javier’s grounder. Javier, who opened the inning with a single off loser Andy Ashby (5-6), batted three times.

Bonds, who earlier drove in three runs on two homers, hit a two-run single in the seventh. Kent had a two-run single, Javier singled twice and drove in a run, Mark Lewis had an RBI double and three pinch-hitters combined to drive in four runs.

The league record for the most runs in any inning since 1900 is 15.

Houston 5, Chicago 3--Bill Spiers hit a three-run, pinch homer off Mel Rojas with one out in the ninth inning as the Astros rallied to beat the Cubs at Chicago.

Trailing 3-2, Sean Berry led off the ninth with an infield single against Rojas (0-3). Craig Biggio walked with one out and Spiers, batting for pitcher Darryl Kile (12-3), sent an 0-2 pitch into the left-center field bleachers, giving Rojas his fifth blown save in 14 chances.

A day after Houston’s 9-7, 15-inning victory in the longest night game ever at Wrigley Field (5 hours, 19 minutes), Kile won his third straight start, allowing three runs and seven hits in eight innings with six strikeouts and two walks.

Philadelphia 8, Atlanta 1--Mike Lieberthal drove in a career-high four runs and Garrett Stephenson (3-4) pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game in nine major league starts as the Phillies stopped a nine-game losing streak against the Braves.

Lieberthal hit a three-run homer in a six-run sixth inning at Atlanta and Mickey Morandini had three hits, helping the Phillies to just their fourth win in 27 games.

Pittsburgh 4, New York 3--Rookie Jose Guillen’s mistake on the basepaths ran Pittsburgh out of a run, so pinch-hitter Turner Ward provided it instead as the Pirates rallied in the eighth inning for the second consecutive night to beat the Mets at Pittsburgh.

Ward’s two-out single scored Jason Kendall, who was hit by a pitch by Met reliever Juan Acevedo (1-1)--a team record 56th time the Pirates have been hit by a pitch this season.

St. Louis 7, Cincinnati 4--Ray Lankford hit two upper-deck homers--a first for Cinergy Field--as the Cardinals continued their home run splurge and beat the Reds at Cincinnati.

Lankford hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a solo shot in his next at-bat, giving the Cardinals a 5-0 lead in the third inning. The homers off Brett Tomko (5-2) traveled an estimated 448 and 439 feet, landing in unoccupied rows of red seats.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Barry Bonds

Team: San Francisco

Performance: 2 homers, 5 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Ray Lankford

Team: St. Louis

Performance: 2 upper-deck homers

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Mike Lieberthal

Team: Philadelphia

Performance: 1 homer, 4 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

Player: G. Stephenson

Team: Philadelphia

Performance: 9 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 97 pitches

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: D. Hermanson

Team: Montreal

Performance: 9 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs, 9 strikeouts, 0 walks

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Rich Loiselle

Team: Pittsburgh

Performance: 13th save in 14 chances

Team’s Result: Win