Expos Makes One Hit Count in Win

Aaron Sele gave up one hit. That’s all Carlos Perez and the Montreal Expos needed.

Sele and Tom Gordon combined on a one-hitter but lost on Mike Lansing’s third-inning homer as the Expos defeated the Boston Red Sox, 1-0, Wednesday night behind Perez’s two-hitter at Montreal.

“It’s tough to lose a one-hitter,” Boston Manager Jimy Williams said. “We did it. Aaron pitched great, the other guy pitched a little bit better.”

Lansing hit his 17th homer of the season with two out in the third, enabling Montreal to complete interleague play with a 12-3 record.

“That’s baseball,” Sele said. “You make one mistake and it seems to come back and hurt you.”

It’s the first time the Red Sox have pitched a one-hitter and lost since Bill Monbouquette was defeated, 2-1, at Minnesota on Sept. 6, 1964, on a two-run homer in the sixth by Zoilo Versalles.

Perez (12-10) won for the first time in six starts, pitching the low-hit game of his career. He struck out eight and walked none. He gave up only a second-inning single to Wil Cordero and a fourth-inning double to John Valentin.

“I had a great curve and great location,” Perez said. “I used a lot of splitters and the fastball inside. Everything worked. When you have your stuff, you can have a great game.”

San Diego 6, Seattle 5--Mariner pitcher Mike Timlin forced home the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning walk to Quilvio Veras giving the Padres a victory at Seattle.

Seattle led, 5-3, after five innings but blew a save for the 22nd time in 53 chances. The Mariners also lost All-Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who left with a rib injury in the fifth.

San Diego scored its first four runs on homers by Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley and Wally Joyner. The Padres, who finished interleague play 8-8, tied the score in seventh off Paul Spoljaric on a run-scoring groundout by Tony Gwynn, who was hitless in five at-bats.

Timlin (4-4) gave up singles to Mark Sweeney, Chris Gomez and John Flaherty with two outs in the eighth, then walked Veras on a 3-2 pitch.

Dario Veras (2-0), the fourth of six Padres pitchers, got two outs for the victory. Trevor Hoffman got his 33rd save in 39 chances.

Seattle finished 7-9 in interleague play.

Oakland 12, San Francisco 3--Ben Grieve drove in five runs with a club record-tying three doubles in his major league debut as the Athletics routed the Giants at Oakland.

Scott Spiezio had a three-run triple and Brent Mayne drove in four runs with a two-run homer--his fifth home run of the season--and a two-run double as the A’s broke a five-game losing streak.

Brad Rigby got his first win in the majors. Rigby (1-5), making his 12th start, gave up two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Cincinnati 6, Kansas City 3--Pokey Reese and Eddie Taubensee homered as the Reds scored six runs against pitcher Ricky Bones to win at Cincinnati.

Rookie Brett Tomko (10-5) struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings, giving up five hits and walking five. Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 36 chances.

“He’s got three quality pitches--fastball, breaking ball and change-up,” Kansas City Manager Tony Muser said. “He’s got a good arm.”

Cincinnati finished interleague play 9-6; Kansas City went 6-9.

New York Mets 4, Toronto 2--The Mets took advantage of reliever Paul Quantrill’s throwing error and Rey Ordonez drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning at New York.

New York’s fifth consecutive win was also the club’s major league-leading 41st come-from-behind victory this season. The Mets kept their slim wild-card hopes alive and finished interleague play 7-8.

The Blue Jays dropped their sixth in a row--all to National League teams--and completed their interleague schedule 4-11.

Dave Mlicki (7-10) gave up two runs and four hits in six innings for his second win in six starts. Greg McMichael, Mel Rojas and John Franco combined on one-hit relief over the final three innings, Franco pitching the ninth for his 35th save.

St. Louis 4, Chicago White Sox 2--Gary Gaetti hit a tie-breaking home run and rookie Manny Aybar won for the first time in the major leagues as the Cardinals won at St. Louis.

St. Louis and Chicago were each 8-7 in interleague play.

Gaetti’s homer leading off the sixth broke a 2-2 tie and made a winner of Aybar (1-4), who pitched six innings after surviving a shaky start.

Dennis Eckersley pitched the ninth for his 33rd save.

Philadelphia 5, New York Yankees 4--Mike Stanton forced home the winning run with a walk to Tony Barron in the ninth inning as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep at Philadelphia.

Mickey Morandini singled off Stanton (6-1) to start the ninth but was forced at second on Gregg Jefferies’ groundout. Scott Rolen and Rico Brogna singled to load the bases, and Stanton struck out Mike Lieberthal before walking Barron on four pitches.

Kevin Stocker had two hits and three runs batted in for the Phillies, who have won eight of their last 10 games.

The Yankees, who completed interleague play at 5-10, have lost six of seven.

Chicago Cubs 10, Minnesota 6--Mark Grace had a two-run homer and Ryne Sandberg and Dave Clark drove in two runs each to lead the Cubs at Chicago.

Sandberg hit a two-run double in the second and Clark had a two-run pinch single in the fifth as the Cubs finished interleague play 9-6. Grace, who drove in three runs, homered off Todd Ritchie in the eighth.

Jeremi Gonzalez (11-6) became the Cubs’ winningest rookie since Mike Harkey went 12-6 in 1990, giving up two runs--one earned--and five hits in five innings.

Paul Molitor drove in three runs and homered for the Twins, who finished interleague play 7-8.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Tony Clark Detroit 3 for 4, 5 RBIs, home run Win Gary Sheffield Florida 3 for 4, 2 runs, home run Win Ryne Sandberg Chi. Cubs 3 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Carlos Perez Montreal 9 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts Win Ramon Garcia Houston 9 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks Win Aaron Sele Boston 7 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 4 strikeouts Loss

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