It Takes Time, but Nomo Finally Gets a Win

After six starts without a victory over a span of almost two months, Hideo Nomo finally got into the win column as a member of the New York Mets.

Nomo (3-8) gave up three hits in seven innings as the Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0, at Shea Stadium to end a three-game losing streak.

“He came up for us in a big way,” Met Manager Bobby Valentine said. “That’s exactly what we needed from him.”

The right-hander, who was 0-1 for the Mets since being acquired May 25 from the Dodgers, struck out nine and walked only one.

“Everything is the same, it’s just the results are different,” said Nomo, who walked seven batters over 5 1/3 innings in his last start against Montreal.

“That was vintage Nomo,” said Rico Brogna, who had two of the Phillies’ four hits. Brogna was three for 22 against Nomo coming into the game.

Jeff Tam and Mel Rojas each pitched an inning to finish the shutout, and Brian McRae went three for four with a homer, three runs batted in and two runs scored.

Nomo helped chase Phillies starter Carlton Loewer (4-2) in the fifth by singling and later scoring when Todd Hundley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

“They jumped on us early, and he kept us at bay,” Phillies Manager Terry Francona said of Nomo.

Loewer gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Chicago 6, Florida 1--Sammy Sosa hit his 36th homer and Steve Trachsel pitched a five-hitter as the Cubs defeated the Marlins at Miami.

Trachsel (9-5) limited the Marlins to five singles, struck out nine and walked two in his first complete game since Aug. 17, 1996. He has won his last three starts after losing his previous four.

Sosa’s two-run homer, a 440-foot shot to center in the sixth off Kirt Ojala, was his first since July 10. In June, Sosa set a major league record for homers in a month with 20.

Mickey Morandini had three singles, drove in a run and scored once and Lance Johnson had two singles and scored twice for the Cubs.

Atlanta 4, Milwaukee 1--Tom Glavine pitched seven strong innings and joined teammate Greg Maddux as the league’s only 13-game winners as the Braves defeated the Brewers at Atlanta.

The Braves, who lead the league with 131 home runs, got solo shots from Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones and Danny Bautista in winning their fourth consecutive game and 13th in 16 games.

Glavine (13-4) gave up six hits, no runs, walked two and struck out three in seven innings.

The home run in the fifth by the switch-hitting Chipper Jones was his 25th of the season, but his first batting right-handed. His last homer batting right-handed came last Sept. 6 against Sterling Hitchcock in a 9-1 victory over San Diego. That one was his only one right-handed last season when he had 21 homers.

Andruw Jones, who hadn’t hit a homer since June 13, hit his 13th of the season in the sixth for a 4-0 lead off Brad Woodall, who gave up 10 hits, four runs and struck out four in six innings.

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 1--In a wild game that featured three bench-clearing incidents and three ejections, the Pirates won at Montreal.

Montreal pitcher Javier Vazquez and Pittsburgh third baseman Aramis Ramirez were ejected in the sixth, while Pirates hitting coach Lloyd McClendon was thrown out in the fifth.

Mike Williams (2-0), a last-minute starter for Pittsburgh, got the victory in his first major league start since 1996. He gave up one run and five hits in five innings as the Pirates ended the Expos’ three-game winning streak.

Vazquez and Ramirez were ejected in the top of the sixth after Vazquez hit Ramirez in the back with a 2-1 pitch. Ramirez charged the mound and threw his helmet at Vazquez.

The helmet didn’t hit the pitcher, but Vazquez did appear to throw a punch at Ramirez.

The two players also triggered a bench-clearing incident in the bottom of the fifth when Vazquez appeared to take a swipe at Ramirez’s glove as he was tagged out at third at the end of a rundown play.

The benches cleared for a third time in the bottom of the sixth. Reliever Elmer Dessens pitched one high and tight to Rondell White, but neither team advanced beyond their baselines.

Houston 10, San Francisco 7--Jose Lima won for the first time since June 6 and Derek Bell had a two-run single in a five-run fourth inning as the Astros won at Houston.

Lima (8-5), who was the first pitcher in the league to reach six victories, had struggled since then with three losses and three no-decisions.

After falling behind, 3-2, after two innings, Lima retired 14 in a row from the third through the eighth innings and left with a 9-6 lead. Lima gave up eight hits and six runs and struck out five in eight innings.

The Astros handed Kirk Rueter his first loss in the Astrodome after going 3-0 in his first five career starts. Rueter (10-5) had won seven of his last nine decisions but lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits and six earned runs.

Arizona 9, Colorado 6--Travis Lee had three hits and three RBIs and Devon White hit a three-run homer as the Diamondbacks used a 12-hit attack to win at Phoenix.

Lee, the league rookie leader in home runs, RBIs and hits, helped the expansion Diamondbacks gain a measure of revenge against the team that swept three home games from them to open their inaugural season.

Willie Blair (4-13) picked up just his second victory in his last seven decisions and Gregg Olson got the save.