Kile Sore About Hit but Beats Phillies, 6-1

Darryl Kile said he didn’t see it. But he sure heard and felt it.

Mark Lewis’ hard-hit grounder ricocheted off Kile’s right knee in the fifth inning of the Colorado Rockies’ 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night at Philadelphia.

Kile finished up the inning, limped off the field and was replaced by Curtis Leskanic. But after the game, Kile said he felt fine.

“I don’t think I’ll have any problems,” said Kile, who expects to make his next scheduled start.

Kile (4-3) shut out the Phillies and gave up only four hits in winning his third straight start.

“I think I could have pitched a few more innings,” he said.

Colorado Manager Don Baylor said he pulled Kile despite the pitcher’s desire to stay in.

“He was unaware that I had already made up my mind,” Baylor said. “I didn’t want him to go out there and alter his pitching style.”

Kile, lured from Houston in the off-season with a three-year, $24-million contract, said he was more angry than worried after taking the grounder off his knee.

“I was just more mad he got a hit on it,” Kile said. “I don’t like people getting hits off my body. I was hoping he’d trip on his way down to first.”

Dante Bichette had three runs batted in for the Rockies, winners of four of their last five. Todd Helton and Larry Walker hit solo homers and eight Rockies hit doubles.

“Right now, I’m in a grinding mode,” said Bichette, four for 23 in his last six games. “But I was glad to deliver with a couple of guys on.”

The Phillies’ run came on Bobby Abreu’s solo homer in the seventh.

Montreal 3, Cincinnati 2--Stan Belinda forced in the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded walk to Ryan McGuire in the ninth inning as the Expos defeated the Reds at Montreal, halting Cincinnati’s three-game winning streak.

Vladimir Guerrero hit a one-out double in the ninth and advanced to third as center-fielder Reggie Sanders bobbled the ball. After two intentional walks by Belinda (1-4), pinch-hitter Jose Vidro grounded to first baseman Sean Casey, who forced Guerrero at home.

McGuire then worked the count full before Belinda, who struck out the side in the eighth, threw ball four inside. On Saturday, McGuire came up in the same situation in the 12th inning against Arizona and delivered a game-winning RBI single.

Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 2--Francisco Cordova continued his run of effective starts, limiting the slumping Cardinals to two runs over 6 1/3 innings at Pittsburgh.

The Pirates, in danger of falling a season-high seven games under .500, won their second in seven games. The Cardinals have lost three of four overall, eight of 10 on the road and nine of their last 10 against the Pirates.

Mark McGwire, one homer away from becoming the 26th major leaguer to hit 400 homers, went two for three with a double and a single. He is three for 17 with one homer in five career starts at Pittsburgh since joining the Cardinals.

Cordova (4-2), who has emerged as the Pirates’ staff ace, has given up two runs or fewer in all but one of his six starts. He hasn’t permitted more than three runs in any outing and has yielded only four in his last three starts.

Houston 10, Chicago 5--Jose Lima tied teammate Mike Hampton for the National League lead with his fifth victory and the Astros scored five runs in the seventh inning at Chicago.

Trailing, 4-3, the Astros rallied in the seventh to take an 8-4 lead. The runs came on Derek Bell’s RBI single, Bill Spiers’ RBI double, Carl Everett’s two-run single, and an error by shortstop Jeff Blauser.

Houston added two runs in the eighth on homers by Brad Ausmus and Craig Biggio. Everett had three hits and three RBIs for the Astros, who have won 13 of their last 16 games.

Lima (5-1) gave up four runs and four hits over six innings, and C.J. Nitkowski pitched the last three innings for his second save.

Mark Clark (2-4) lost his fourth consecutive game, giving up six runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. The Cubs got home runs from Brant Brown, Jose Hernandez and Scott Servais.

San Diego 13, Milwaukee 4--Wally Joyner hit a grand slam off Paul Wagner, and Andy Sheets had a three-run homer at Milwaukee for the second consecutive game.

In their two games at the NL’s newest city, the Padres have feasted on Brewers’ pitching for 26 runs and 29 hits. Milwaukee entered the series with the NL’s best ERA among starters.

But one night after Jose Mercedes allowed 11 earned runs on 12 hits, Wagner (1-3) surrendered 11 runs (six earned) on nine hits in seven innings.

New York 9, Arizona 1--Dave Mlicki finally got a win in his sixth start of the season, pitching a six-hitter at New York for the second complete game of his career.

Mlicki (1-3) took a shutout into the ninth before allowing a leadoff homer to Travis Lee, his team-leading seventh. Mlicki, 8-12 last season, struck out eight and walked one, leading the Mets to only their second win in nine games.

Todd Pratt, called up from the minors after Tim Spehr broke a bone in his left wrist, hit a three-run homer in the seventh, his first home run since July 14 at Pittsburgh.

Butch Huskey was three for four with three RBIs, and Rey Ordonez added a two-run single in the fourth off Omar Daal (1-1), making his first start since last season. Daal gave up three runs and four hits in four innings.