Explosive Diamondbacks Roll to 15-2 Win

The Arizona Diamondbacks had the best offensive game in their brief history Wednesday night.

Matt Williams hit his 16th home run and Steve Finley had four extra-base hits--one a three-run triple--and four runs batted in to help the Diamondbacks pound the Montreal Expos, 15-2, at Montreal.

Arizona tied a team record for runs in a game and set a franchise record for hits with 20. The second-year Diamondbacks had 12 extra-base hits, among them a team-record eight doubles.

“This team is pretty much balanced up and down the lineup,” Finley said. “It’s one of the better offensive clubs I’ve ever played on, if not the best, the way the guys are swinging the bats right now.”

Williams, who went three for six, hit a two-run homer in the first against Javier Vazquez (2-4) and Finley’s triple highlighted a five-run fifth as the Diamondbacks scored in each of the first four innings.

Arizona, which has won eight of nine, added three runs in the eighth to win its third consecutive series.

“We’ve been swinging the bat and the pitching’s been great,” Finley said. “You get that combination and you’re going to win some games.”

Omar Daal (6-4) held Montreal to three hits in six innings, giving up a one-out homer to Chris Widger in the second and leadoff doubles to Vladimir Guerrero in the fourth and Rondell White in the sixth.

Finley, who had three doubles, went nine for 15 in the three-game series with 10 RBIs. He went four for five with two homers and a career-high six RBIs in Tuesday night’s 10-8 loss.

Florida 10, St. Louis 2--Preston Wilson tripled and hit a three-run homer to support fellow rookie Ryan Dempster, who struck out nine at Miami.

St. Louis committed three errors, one a dropped fly by left fielder Willie McGee that led to four unearned runs in Florida’s five-run fifth. Wilson capped the inning with his 12th homer.

The Marlins, 8-24 at home, had 14 hits to end a four-game losing streak.

Dempster (3-1) gave up only one run in seven innings despite giving up five hits and seven walks. His strikeout total was a career high.

Mark McGwire struck out once and walked three times, giving him 44 walks this season.

Houston 9, Milwaukee 1--Jose Lima pitched a four-hitter to become the National League’s first nine-game winner and Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo each homered for the Astros at Milwaukee.

Lima (9-2) gave up a solo home run to David Nilsson in the fifth, two singles to Jeff Cirillo and a pinch-hit double by Ron Belliard. He struck out eight and walked none for his second complete game.

Bagwell and Hidalgo staked the Astros to a 4-0 lead against Cal Eldred (1-4) with a pair of two-run homers in the first inning.

Derek Bell walked with one out and Bagwell followed with his 15th home run, driving a 3-and-2 pitch into the left-field seats. Carl Everett then doubled down the right-field line and Hidalgo curled his ninth homer into the left-field corner.

Philadelphia 7, San Francisco 6--Ron Gant sparked a two-out rally with a two-run triple in the fifth inning to lead the Phillies at Philadelphia.

The Giants, who lost for the sixth time in seven games, scored two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth but fell short when J.T. Snow’s searing liner with two on was caught by Bobby Abreu in right field to end the eighth.

Wayne Gomes, who saved Monday night’s game and walked in the winning run in the 12th inning Tuesday night, pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Paul Byrd (7-3) gave up three runs--one earned--and five hits in seven innings. He also led off the sixth with a single and scored from first on Kevin Sefcik’s triple to make the score 7-1.

Mike Grace retired the first two batters in the eighth, but gave up RBI doubles to Brent Mayne and pinch-hitter Ellis Burks that made the score 7-5. Left-hander Jim Poole walked Marvin Benard and gave up Bill Mueller’s RBI single that made the score 7-6 before retiring Snow.

Colorado 3, Atlanta 2--Todd Helton hit a solo homer in the 11th inning to lift the Rockies at Atlanta.

Helton, who entered the game in the ninth inning as a pinch-hitter, connected on a 1-and-2 pitch for his 10th home run of the season, a shot over the right-field fence against Russ Springer (0-1).

Jerry Dipoto (2-2) got the victory with two scoreless innings of relief for the Rockies, who were held without a hit for six innings by rookie Odalis Perez.

Brian Jordan, who hit a solo homer in the seventh inning for Atlanta’s first run, tied the score at 2-2 with a two-out RBI single in the ninth.

Jordan’s single on a 3-and-2 pitch from reliever Dave Veres scored Ozzie Guillen, who opened the inning with a single, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Bret Boone.

Perez, who turns 21 on Sunday, held Colorado without a hit until the seventh when rookie Chris Sexton led off with a clean single to left.

Cincinnati 8, New York 7--Mike Cameron hit a go-ahead, two-run single against John Franco with two out in the ninth at New York, giving the streaking Reds their fifth consecutive victory.

New York, which went ahead with four runs in the seventh after trailing, 6-3, has lost six in a row for the first time since April 25-May 2, 1998, and dropped three games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League wild-card race.

Franco (0-1), who blew a save for the first time in 15 chances this season, was booed loudly. He has lost nine consecutive decisions dating to last year.