Estalella’s His Own Power Co.

Bobby Estalella, in his first game since being recalled from the minors Tuesday, hit three home runs as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 6-4, Thursday night at Montreal for their fourth consecutive victory.

Estalella, who appeared in two games earlier this season, hit a solo homer in the second and a two-run shot off Pedro Martinez (16-7) in the sixth. The catcher added a solo shot off Anthony Telford in the ninth.

“I’ve never hit three home runs before,” Estalella said. “I’ve never done that at any level, Legion ball, high school. I’ve hit two before, I can’t count how many times. I’ve always wanted to hit three, but I never thought I’d do it here. It’s one of the best days I’ve had in baseball, no doubt.

“That’s as impressive as you can get,” Phillie Manager Terry Francona said. “I mean, we were laughing in the dugout. It’s not supposed to happen that way. I hit 16 homers in my career, three was the most in any one year. He did it in an hour and a half.”

Rico Brogna also homered for Philadelphia and Tony Barron added an RBI single as the Phillies won for the ninth time in 11 games.

Rookie Matt Beech (4-8) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the victory. He is 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA in his last five games after losing his first seven decisions.

Houston 14, San Francisco 2--Craig Biggio homered on the game’s first pitch and Mike Hampton pitched seven strong innings.

Hampton (12-9) gave up two runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings at San Francisco. He also singled, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and scored a run in the Astros’ biggest scoring game since June 1996.

Astro shortstop Tim Bogar broke a bone in his left forearm when he was hit by a pitch in the third inning.

Biggio’s 21st homer triggered a five-run first that included RBI doubles by Bill Spiers and Bogar. Ricky Gutierrez, who got an RBI in the first on a grounder, had a two-run homer in the third.

Biggio, Thomas Howard and Gutierrez had three hits each as the Astros extended their lead over second-place Pittsburgh in the Central to 3 1/2 games. The Giants fell two games behind the West-leading Dodgers.

Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 2--Jon Lieber gave up three homers in only four innings as the slumping Pirates were overpowered for a second consecutive game.

Joe Oliver hit a two-run homer, and Willie Greene and Jon Nunnally added solo shots at Cincinnati to keep the Pirates in their late-season slump. Since cutting its deficit in the NL Central to a game, Pittsburgh has lost momentum by losing eight of 10.

Shawon Dunston hit a two-run homer, his third since coming to Pittsburgh in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, but the Pirates wasted three other scoring threats.

Atlanta 8, San Diego 7--Jeff Blauser went four for five and hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning as the Braves won in San Diego after twice wasting one-run leads.

Tim Worrell (4-7) loaded the bases by walking Chipper Jones, who stole second and took third on a wild pitch. After walks to Fred McGriff and Javy Lopez, Blauser flied to left.

Tony Gwynn drove in four runs to raise his career-best RBIs total to 110, hitting a three-run homer. Hitless in eight at-bats coming in, Gwynn went two for four to raise his average to .373.

St. Louis at Colorado--The game between the Cardinals and Rockies at Denver was postponed because of rain. It has been rescheduled for Monday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Bobby Estalella

Team: Philadelphia

Performance: 3 for 4, 3 home runs, 4 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Ricky Gutierrez

Team: Houston

Performance: 3 for 5, 3 RBIs, 4 runs, homer

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Bill Spiers

Team: Houston

Performance: 2 doubles, 2 runs, 2 walks

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Joe Oliver

Team: Cincinnati

Performance: two-run home run

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

*--*

Player Team Performance Team’s Result Mike Hampton Houston 7 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits Win Mike Morgan Cincinnati 6 innings, 2 runs, 6 strikeouts Win

*--*