Bell’s Grand Slam Is an Enriching Moment

Jay Bell had plenty of pressure as he walked up to the plate with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. He knew if he hit a home run he would win a fan $1 million.

Bell came through on a full-count pitch, and the Arizona Diamondbacks went into the All-Star break with a 7-4 victory over the Oakland on Sunday at Phoenix.

“To be able to go ahead and win the ball game, that’s important,” Bell said. “Certainly to be able to win someone $1 million, that doesn’t happen very often, if ever. I ended up the series one for 14 and that one hit was very special.”

The home run off Oakland’s Jimmy Haynes (6-7) meant $1 million for Gylene Hoyle of Chandler, Ariz., a child care provider who became the first winner of the Diamondbacks’ Sunday Grand Slam contest. To win the contest, she had to name the player and the inning he would hit a grand slam.

Matt Williams hit a two-run homer for Arizona, and David Dellucci was two for three with two doubles and an RBI.

Bell’s fifth grand slam, this one coming against Jimmy Haynes (6-7), broke a 3-3 tie.

Toronto 1, Montreal 0--David Wells wasn’t perfect this time, but he was close.

Wells pitched a two-hitter for his ninth shutout and Tony Fernandez drove in the only run with a sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays at Montreal.

New York Yankees 6, New York Mets 3--Hideki Irabu pitched seven effective innings as the Yankees averted a Subway Series sweep before a crowd of 53,869, the Mets’ largest at Shea Stadium since 1972.

The Yankees denied Orel Hershiser (9-6) his 200th victory despite three more hits from Mike Piazza, whose home runs helped the Mets win the first two games of the series.

Atlanta 8, Boston 1--Greg Maddux won his fourth consecutive decision and Ryan Klesko homered twice for the Braves at Atlanta.

Maddux (10-5) gave up one run and six hits in eight innings in his first start on three days’ rest since beating Toronto on June 17, 1997.

Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 3--Steve Trachsel, who had lost eight decisions in a row, won for the first time in nearly two months as the Cubs won at Comiskey Park.

San Diego 6, Texas 2--Pinch-hitter Phil Nevin broke an eighth-inning 1-1 tie with a two-run single at San Diego and the Padres went on to beat the Rangers, taking two of three games from the AL West leaders.

Nevin’s two-hopper up the middle against Mike Venafro came with one out and the bases loaded. Wally Joyner, Carlos Baerga and rookie Ben Davis followed with run-scoring singles.

Houston 7, Kansas City 3--Jose Lima got his 13th victory as the Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Royals at Kansas City, Mo.

Houston was 13-14 under interim Manager Matt Galante, the team’s bench coach. He took over after Larry Dierker collapsed on June 13. Dierker returns after the All-Star break.

Baltimore 6, Philadelphia 2--Scott Erickson pitched eight strong innings at Philadelphia and the Orioles ended their terrible first half with a two-game winning streak.

Pittsburgh 10, Minnesota 2--Todd Ritchie pitched seven good innings against his former team, and Warren Morris had a career-high four hits and four RBIs for the Pirates at Minneapolis.

Al Martin extended his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games with an infield single in the second.

Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2--Alex Fernandez pitched six scoreless innings at Miami for his 100th victory, leading the Marlins over the Devil Rays.

Cincinnati 9, Cleveland 4--Eddie Taubensee and Mike Cameron hit two-run homers in the eighth inning off Paul Shuey as the Reds rallied at Cleveland.

Milwaukee 3, Detroit 2--Geoff Jenkins hit a two-run homer to lead the Brewers over the Tigers at Detroit.