Five Grand Slams Recorded in One Day for First Time

Five grand slams were hit Monday night, the first time that’s happened in 129 years of major league baseball

Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jose Vidro of the Montreal Expos got it started early. Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins connected, Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees followed and Jay Buhner of the Seattle Mariners set the record.

Four grand slams had been hit in one day many times since major league baseball began in 1871, but never five. The last time four had been hit was July 28, 1998, when Sammy Sosa, Gabe Alvarez, Darrin Jackson and Ray Lankford did it.

This has been a season of slams in the big leagues. The five raised the majors’ total to 96--the record of 141 was set in 1996.

There have been 57 slams in the AL this season and 39 in the NL. Both leagues set records in 1996, with 81 slams in the AL and 60 in the NL.

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Brian McRae, acquired nine days earlier by the Colorado Rockies in a trade with the New York Mets, was sent to Toronto for a player to be named.

He had come to the Rockies on July 31 as part of a trade that sent outfielder Darryl Hamilton and relief pitcher Chuck McElroy to the Mets. McRae, 31, is in the final year of a multiyear contract that pays him $3.75 million this season.

He is batting .224 with nine homers and 37 RBIs. In seven games with Colorado, McRae batted .261 with one homer and one RBI.

Edgard Clemente, a 23-year-old outfielder, was recalled from triple-A Colorado Springs to replace McRae on the Rockies’ roster.

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Seattle Mariner pitcher Frankie Rodriguez was suspended for seven games and New York Yankee pitcher Jason Grimsley for three for their roles in a weekend brawl.

Rodriguez was punished for hitting Chuck Knoblauch with a pitch in the ninth inning of New York’s victory Friday and also for using obscene language and fighting.

Grimsley was suspended for hitting Edgar Martinez with a pitch the previous inning, after Alex Rodriguez had homered.

Grimsley’s suspension is due to start today, and Rodriguez’s after the five-game suspension of Mariners pitcher Jose Paniagua, who on Monday dropped the appeal of his penalty. Paniagua was suspended after a July 11 fight against the Dodgers.

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Philadelphia ace Curt Schilling has bursitis in his pitching shoulder and received a cortisone shot in hopes that he won’t miss any more starts.

Schilling had made 117 consecutive starts before missing two in a row recently. The Phillies expect him to start Friday at Cincinnati.

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Cleveland put right-hander Jaret Wright on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained muscle in his upper back. . . . Thomas Ford, a son of Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford, died at Manhasset, N.Y., at 44. Ford died of a heart condition, according to Jason Zillo, a spokesman for the New York Yankees, his father’s former team. . . . Pitcher Jeff Nelson is set to rejoin the Yankees on Wednesday after five scoreless rehab appearances following elbow surgery. . . . Toronto first baseman David Segui is listed as day-to-day after breaking a bone in his right hand during Saturday’s loss to the Texas Rangers. . . . Houston third baseman Ken Caminiti began a rehabilitation assignment with triple-A New Orleans and is expected to rejoin the Astros this weekend.