Braves Score Six in Ninth to Beat Red Sox

Certainly, the Atlanta Braves are a team that oozes with confidence. Not much seems overwhelming after six consecutive trips to the playoffs.

That said, no one expected a victory when the Braves came to bat in ninth inning at Atlanta trailing, 6-1, to the Boston Red Sox, who had one of baseball’s best relievers on the mound for added insurance.

“I was all ready to go home and sleep by myself,” Chipper Jones said after Atlanta rallied for six runs in the ninth to stun the Red Sox, 7-6. “My wife doesn’t like being around me after losses.”

The Red Sox seemed to be in control when they scored two runs in the top of the ninth. Tom Gordon, with 19 saves and a 1.10 ERA, had already been warming up in the bullpen, so he came on to finish up in a non-save situation.

But Gordon walked the first two hitters and was removed after Keith Lockhart and Chipper Jones hit run-scoring singles to make the score 6-3. John Wasdin (3-3) entered and gave up a two-run double to Andres Galarraga to pull the Braves within a run.

Ryan Klesko followed with a bloop single to left that scored pinch-runner Danny Bautista with the tying run before the Red Sox finally got an out, albeit on Javy Lopez’s sacrifice bunt that moved pinch-runner Gerald Williams to second.

Andruw Jones followed with a single to left, the ball skipping by Nomar Garciaparra’s desperate lunge. A sliding Williams beat Troy O’Leary’s high throw to the plate.

Florida 4, Toronto 3--Todd Zeile singled home the winning run to end a bizarre 17th inning, and the Marlins ended an 11-game losing streak at Miami.

Toronto appeared to take a 4-3 lead in the 17th when Felipe Crespo scored from first on a two-out double by Carlos Delgado. But the Marlins argued that Crespo had missed third base, and plate umpire Tom Hallion upheld the appeal and ruled him out, ending the inning.

Television replays showed that Crespo appeared to touch the inside of third base on his way to the plate.

Baltimore 14, Philadelphia 8--Rafael Palmeiro went three for five with four RBIs, including a two-run homer, as the Orioles outslugged the Phillies at Philadelphia.

Brady Anderson drove in four runs for the Orioles, who set season highs with 14 runs and 18 hits.

Palmeiro, who has 10 RBIs in his last eight games, hit his two-run homer in Baltimore’s four-run sixth off loser Darrin Winston (2-2).

Chicago Cubs 8, Minnesota 1--Sammy Sosa tied a team record by homering in his fifth consecutive game and Jose Hernandez added a two-run shot at Minneapolis as the Cubs extended their winning streak to 10 games.

The winning streak is the longest since 1970 for the Cubs, who are 14 games over .500 (38-24) for the first time since finishing the 1989 regular season 92-69. They remained tied with Houston atop the NL Central, the latest in a season the Cubs have been in first place this decade.

The other Cubs to homer in five straight games were Hack Wilson in 1928 and Ryne Sandberg in 1989.

Kansas City 8, Milwaukee 7--Jose Offerman homered and hit his league-leading seventh triple for the Royals in an interleague game that hardly felt like one at Kansas City, Mo.

The Brewers, who switched from the AL to the NL last November, have been visiting Kansas City since 1970, and it was the 361st meeting between the two.

Chicago White Sox 8, St. Louis 6--Mark McGwire hit his major league-leading 29th home run but Jeff Abbott’s three-run triple led the White Sox at Chicago.

McGwire, who hit 16 homers in May, now has two homers in five games in June, and 13 homers in his last 17 games. He hit his 28th on Friday against San Francisco after sitting out three games because of back spasms.

San Diego 4, Cincinnati 2--Joey Hamilton gave up two runs in eight innings at San Diego to break his career-worst six-game losing streak.

The Padres broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning by scoring two runs on two singles, two walks, a sacrifice fly by Ken Caminiti and Wally Joyner’s bases-loaded RBI groundout.

It was enough to get Hamilton (4-7) off the hook. The right-hander hadn’t won since May 2 at Florida.

Houston 9, Detroit 5--Carl Everett hit a two-run double to cap a five-run ninth inning that rallied the Astros at Detroit.

Everett also homered for the Astros, who scored all their ninth-inning runs off reliever Todd Jones (0-2), who blew a save opportunity for only the third time in his last 35 chances.

Doug Henry (4-2) pitched two innings for the win.

Cleveland 8, Pittsburgh 0--Jim Thome hit a colossal three-run homer and drove in four runs at Cleveland, and Bartolo Colon pitched a four-hitter for his second shutout and fourth complete game.

Colon breezed through the light-hitting Pirates, walking one and striking out three as Cleveland won for the 18th time in 23 games. Colon lowered his ERA to 2.89.

New York Mets 3, Tampa Bay 0--Rick Reed took a perfect game into the seventh inning and finished with a career-best three-hitter and Mike Piazza homered at New York.

The shutout was the first for Reed (7-3) since 1992 with Kansas City and gave him a 1.21 ERA in his last eight starts.

Piazza, who went three for three with a walk, hit his 11th homer and second since joining the Mets in the fifth off Dennis Springer (2-10).

San Francisco 4, Seattle 3--Danny Darwin kept the majors’ best home run-hitting team in the yard and Rich Aurilia homered in his first at-bat against Randy Johnson at San Francisco as the Giants won their 10th in a row.

Rich Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his first save. Joey Cora appeared to beat out an infield hit to open the inning but was called out by first base umpire Sam Holbrook. Cora and Seattle Manager Lou Piniella argued the call heatedly and were ejected. Rodriguez struck out Ken Griffey Jr. to end the game.