Tapani Doesn’t Miss a Beat and Wins

Kevin Tapani pitched as if he had never been away, showing during his first start in nearly three weeks that his sore shoulder is no longer a problem.

He worked quickly, threw strikes, got out of a no-out, bases-loaded situation in the seventh inning with just one run scoring and pitched the Chicago Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres Saturday.

“It felt free and easy the whole time. I didn’t get up into the 120-pitch area, so it couldn’t have gone much better for the first time out there in a while,” Tapani said.

“It was just good to be back out there. A 2-1 game at Wrigley and a great day like this. It was easy to be focused.”

Tapani, taken off the disabled list before the game and making his first start since April 12, yielded three hits and a run during an 87-pitch, seven-inning outing as the Cubs won their fourth consecutive game.

The loss was San Diego’s fourth in a row, the Padres’ longest losing streak since last September.

Tapani (2-1) was forced to leave his second start of the season after three innings when his shoulder tightened up. Tests, exercises and side sessions got him ready to return to the rotation.

He retired the first 13 batters before walking John Vander Wal and then giving up his first hit, a single by Greg Myers.

In the seventh, Dave Magadan led off with a walk and Tony Gwynn singled, leaving him 36 hits shy of 3,000. Wally Joyner then lofted a single to right, but Magadan, not sure if it would be caught, had to stop at third, loading the bases.

It turned out to be a big play because Gwynn was ready to race to third but had to return to second. Vander Wal popped out and Magadan finally scored on Greg Myers’ grounder to first.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on consecutive singles by Mark Grace, Henry Rodriguez and Jose Hernandez. They made it 2-0 when Rodriguez and Hernandez executed a double steal and catcher Myers’ one-hop throw to third got past Magadan, allowing Rodriguez to score.

Atlanta 5, Cincinnati 1--Chipper Jones hit two of the Braves’ four solo home runs to back the strong pitching of Kevin Millwood at Atlanta for their fourth consecutive victory.

Millwood (2-2) gave up only three hits in 7 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out eight. He retired 20 of 21 and 11 in a row, until pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney’s one-out single in the eighth.

Pittsburgh 9, Colorado 3--The Pirates took advantage of Jamey Wright’s wildness to end a six-game home losing streak and win for only the second time in nine games.

Wright walked six as Pittsburgh scored three runs in the first inning and two in the second to take a 5-0 lead. Wright has given up 30 hits and walked 16 in 19 innings and has a 7.58 ERA in his four starts.

Brian Giles went three for four, including a homer, and drove in three runs to lead the Pirates. Larry Walker, who had driven in 15 runs in three games and 17 in four, had a double in four at-bats and failed to drive in a run for the first time in five games.

New York 9, San Francisco 4--Brian McRae hit a grand slam and Edgardo Alfonzo also homered at New York to lead the Mets to their fourth consecutive victory.

With the Mets leading, 4-2, in the seventh inning, reliever Jerry Spradlin walked John Olerud with one out. Robin Ventura reached on an error by Spradlin and Jermaine Allensworth singled to load the bases for McRae.

Arizona 5, Milwaukee 3--The Diamondbacks used the strong pitching of Todd Stottlemyre, Greg Swindell and Gregg Olson as they handed the Brewers their fifth consecutive home loss.

Stottlemyre (3-1) went 6 2/3 innings, yielding three runs and seven hits. Swindell finished the seventh and pitched the eighth before Olson got the final three outs for his fourth consecutive save.

Houston 6, Florida 4--Jeff Bagwell homered for the second straight day at Miami and the Astros scored five unearned runs to hand the Marlins their fourth loss in a row.

Jose Lima (4-1) gave up 10 hits and four runs--three earned--in 6 1/3 innings to win his fourth consecutive start. Lima struck out Derrek Lee to end the fifth with the tying runs in scoring position.