Streaking Astros Finally Add to Their Lead

The Astros won their 12th consecutive game Tuesday night at Houston, but more importantly, they widened their lead in the NL Central for the first time in more than a week.

Shane Reynolds homered and gave up six hits in seven innings, and Ricky Gutierrez went four for four as the Astros routed the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-2.

“Shane was really sharp tonight--about the only thing that hurt him was we hit so long, it was hard for him to stay in a groove,” Houston Manager Larry Dierker said.

Houston increased its division lead to four games over second-place Cincinnati, which lost to Chicago, 4-3, ending the Reds’ winning streak at seven. The Astros also sent Philadelphia to its 11th consecutive loss. The Astros have outscored the Phillies, 25-4, in the first two games of the series and outhit them, 26-14.

“They kind of steamrolled us,” Philadelphia Manager Terry Francona said. “They did it last night too. They hit better and they fielded better.”

Reynolds (16-11) gave up both runs, struck out three and walked one. He is 2-0 with a 1.25 earned-run average in three September starts.

“Thank God August is over,” Reynolds said. “Me and August don’t get along at all. But really, I’m not doing anything different other than my location has been a little better.”

Paul Byrd (14-9) was tagged for seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.

Houston, which outhit Philadelphia, 16-8, took a 3-0 lead in the second. Gutierrez, who has 12 hits in his last 20 at-bats, hit an RBI double to left on a ball Ron Gant misjudged. Reynolds then hit his third career homer, his first since Sept. 8, 1996. He is 11 for 63 (.175) this season and leads all major league pitchers with 14 runs batted in.

* Chicago 4, Cincinnati 3--Sammy Sosa again came up empty in his quest for homer No. 60, but Henry Rodriguez hit his first in nearly a month as the Cubs won at Cincinnati, ending the Reds’ seven-game winning streak.

Sosa failed to get the ball out of the infield against Pete Harnisch (14-9), then completed an 0-for-4 game with a groundout in the ninth against Dennys Reyes, who gave up Mark McGwire’s 60th homer last year.

* Atlanta 11, San Diego 4--Kevin Millwood struck out 12 in seven innings and hit his first career homer as the Braves defeated the Padres at San Diego to end a three-game losing streak.

The Braves pushed their lead in the NL East back to two games after the New York Mets lost at Colorado.

Millwood (17-7) matched his victory total from last year, his first full major league season. He improved to 5-0 in his last seven starts after holding the Padres to one run on five hits. He walked two.

After being held to four hits in Monday night’s 3-0 loss to San Diego, the Braves had 14 hits against the team that defeated them for the NL pennant last year.

With two out in the fourth and a runner on first, Millwood hit the first pitch he saw from rookie Buddy Carlyle (1-2) into the first row of seats in left field for a 4-1 lead.

* San Francisco 3, Florida 0--Shawn Estes pitched a four-hitter for his fourth career shutout and Brent Mayne homered as the Giants defeated the Marlins at San Francisco.

Estes (11-8) struck out eight and walked two in going the distance for the first time since blanking Florida, 8-0, on May 4, 1998. He is now 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA in six lifetime starts against the Marlins, who have dropped the first five games in their 10-game trip.

The Giants were without slugger Barry Bonds, who sat out because of an inflammation in his left knee. He was listed as day-to-day.

* Arizona 2, Pittsburgh 1--Hanley Frias singled and scored the winning run on first baseman Kevin Young’s fielding error, and the Diamondbacks defeated the Pirates at Phoenix.

Erubiel Durazo had a solo homer and a single in three at-bats for the Diamondbacks, who won for the ninth time in 10 games--the last five in a row--and reduced their magic number to 10. Any combination of 10 Diamondback victories or San Francisco losses and Arizona will clinch the NL West title and become the first second-year franchise to reach the playoffs.

* Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 1--Scott Karl pitched seven strong innings and Marquis Grissom and Jeff Cirillo had key hits in a three-run seventh as the Brewers defeated the Cardinals at St. Louis.

The Cardinals were without McGwire, who left Monday night’s game after 4 1/2 innings because of a sore left groin and might not be back in the lineup until Friday.