Hampton Joins 20-Win Club

Mike Hampton joined teammate Jose Lima in the 20-win club, and the Astros set a club record by beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 13-2, Monday night at Houston for their 11th consecutive victory.

Hampton (20-3) won his 11th consecutive decision since a June 24 loss to Cincinnati, allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings with six strikeouts.

Lima (20-7) got his 20th victory Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. The last time teammates won 20 in the same season was in 1993, when Atlanta’s Greg Maddux (20-10) and Tom Glavine (22-6) did it along with San Francisco’s John Burkett (22-7) and Bill Swift (21-8).

The Astros sent the Phillies to their 10th consecutive loss, their longest losing streak since June 24-July 4, 1997 when they lost 11 in a row.

Houston’s streak of consecutive games with home runs was stopped at 14.

Arizona 5, Pittsburgh 1--Hanley Frias hit his first home run and Erubiel Durazo hit a three-run shot into the Bank One Ballpark swimming pool at Phoenix.

The victory reduced the Diamondbacks’ magic number for clinching the NL West title to 11. Any combination of 11 Arizona victories or San Francisco losses will make the Diamondbacks the first second-year team to make the playoffs.

Arizona’s 87th victory also made the Diamondbacks the most successful second-year franchise. The 1962 Los Angeles Angels won 86 games.

New York 6, Colorado 5--David Veres’ wild pitch allowed Mike Piazza to score from third with the Mets’ go-ahead run in the ninth inning at Denver.

The victory, combined with Atlanta’s loss at San Diego, moved the Mets to within one game of the Braves in the NL East.

With the score 5-5, John Olerud doubled against Veres (3-8) leading off the ninth. Piazza walked and Robin Ventura singled to right. Larry Walker threw out pinch-runner Melvin Mora at the plate, but Piazza scored on the wild pitch with one out and Darryl Hamilton batting.

Armando Benitez got three outs for his 20th save.

San Diego 3, Atlanta 0--Woody Williams took a shutout into the ninth inning and also hit a run-scoring single at San Diego.

Williams (9-12) gave up a double and a single to Ryan Klesko and two singles to Gerald Williams in eight innings. He struck out six and walked two.

Williams left after walking Keith Lockhart and giving up a single to Williams to start the ninth. Trevor Hoffman got three outs for his 37th save in 40 chances.

Cincinnati 7, Florida 4--Mike Cameron and Greg Vaughn hit solo home runs as the Reds overcame a two-run deficit at Cincinnati to complete a four-game sweep of the Marlins, extending their winning streak to seven games.

Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 3--Rookie Kevin Barker hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning night to lead the Brewers at St. Louis.

Mark McGwire strained his left groin and left after 4 1/2 innings.

Craig Paquette of the Cardinals homered for the fourth consecutive game.