Gonzalez Streaks On, Big Unit Strikes Back

Randy Johnson was as happy as anyone that teammate Luis Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 27 games in his first at-bat on Saturday.

After the drama of Gonzalez extending his streak had passed, the Big Unit made up for his shaky outing the last time out with a three-hitter that gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Phoenix.

“The sooner he gets a hit, the sooner we all can concentrate on what we need to do,” said Johnson, who struck out 11 and walked three for his second complete game of the year and the 59th of his career. “You get wrapped up in watching one particular player doing something well over such a period of time.”

Johnson (4-1) had allowed six runs on a career-worst 13 hits against Montreal in his last start. Saturday, he allowed only Neifi Perez’s homer to lead off the game and singles to Henry Blanco and Derrick Gibson.

Steve Finley and Damian Miller homered for Arizona, which raised its home record to 14-4, best in the major leagues.

Gonzalez, who also singled in the sixth inning, matched John Flaherty for the third-longest streak in the National League this decade. Flaherty hit safely in 27 straight games for the San Diego Padres in 1996.

New York 9, Philadelphia 7--The Mets’ Edgardo Alfonzo had an eventful sixth inning at Philadelphia, driving in the tiebreaking run and then getting erased on a triple play.

Alfonzo went two for three with three RBIs as the Mets fought back from six runs down to win their third straight game after losing six of seven.

Phillie reliever Ken Ryan (1-2) walked Roger Cedeno to lead off the sixth. Cedeno stole second and scored on Alfonzo’s single to center. After John Olerud walked, Mike Piazza lined to shortstop Alex Arias as the runners were moving. Arias flipped to second baseman Kevin Jordan for the second out and Jordan then tagged Olerud to complete the Phillies’ second triple play in the last two years.

Philadelphia, which also turned one on Aug. 30, 1998 at San Francisco, has 29 triple plays in its history.

Cincinnati 6, San Diego 2--Sean Casey hit a twisting liner to center that turned into a decisive two-run triple as the Reds beat the Padres at Cincinnati.

The Reds had lost 10 in a row and 12 of 13 to the Padres, who set a franchise record by winning 11 of 12 against Cincinnati last season.

Mark Lewis homered for the Reds, and the Padres’ Tony Gwynn went one for four, leaving him 28 hits shy of becoming the 22nd player to reach 3,000.

Chicago 5, Atlanta 1--Greg Maddux, who used to be unbeatable against his former team, got pounded for a career-high 14 hits in seven innings as the Cubs beat the Braves at Chicago.

Maddux, who also gave up five runs, including three in the first inning, said, “I know it looks bad and it sounds stupid, but I like the way I threw today.”

Henry Rodriguez hit a two-run homer, backing Steve Trachsel’s six-hit pitching, and Mickey Morandini went four for four with an RBI and a run scored as the Cubs stretched their regular-season winning streak against the Braves to seven games.

Pittsburgh 17, Montreal 6--Freddy Garcia and Brian Giles hit three-run homers and the Expos tied a team-record with six errors as the Pirates won at Pittsburgh.

The Montreal errors led to six unearned runs as the Pirates scored their most runs since the beat the Mets, 19-2, on Sept. 26, 1992.

Milwaukee 7, Florida 2--Steve Woodard pitched a four-hitter and David Nilsson, Geoff Jenkins and Ron Belliard homered as the Brewers beat the Marlins at Milwaukee.