Hernandez Produces Another Shutout

Livan Hernandez liked his first shutout so much, he did it again.

Hernandez, who had not thrown a shutout in 104 major league starts before last week, pitched his second consecutive four-hitter, leading the San Francisco Giants over his former team, the Florida Marlins, 5-0, Wednesday.

“This is the best time in my career,” said Hernandez, the 1997 World Series MVP. “I’d never thrown a shutout before, but after the first one, it made me more comfortable today. Sometimes, I can throw good.”

Hernandez is 13-5 with a 3.25 ERA since an 0-4 start and has given up three runs in his last 34 innings. He struck out five and walked three in his fourth complete game of the season, stretching his shutout string to 18 innings.

Ellis Burks went two for three with a home run and three runs batted in.

Milwaukee 8, Arizona 5--Mark Loretta and Luis Lopez homered off Curt Schilling as the Brewers defeated the Diamonbacks at Phoenix to complete a three-game sweep of Arizona.

Richie Sexson hit his third home run of the series, a two-run, 417-foot shot to center off Byung-Hyun Kim in the eighth, as the Brewers won their season-high fourth in a row.

Atlanta 5, Colorado 2--Greg Maddux (14-7) won for just the second time in seven starts, giving up two runs and seven hits in seven innings at Denver. Mike Remlinger finished for his 12th save.

Todd Helton went 0-for-4, ending his career-best hitting streak at 14 games. His major league-leading average dropped four points to .393.

New York 4, San Diego 1--Al Leiter (14-5) struck out 12 to match a season and gave up only three hits in eight innings at San Diego as the Mets defeated the Padres to avoid a three-game sweep.

St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 2--Rick Ankiel (8-7) won for the second time in 11 starts and Dave Veres got four outs for his 22nd save as the Cardinals won at St. Louis.

Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 3--Mike Lieberthal’s eighth-inning homer started a rally from a 3-1 deficit at Cincinnati as the Phillies won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 8-9.

Chicago 15, Houston 5--Ruben Quevedo (2-5) took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, Joe Girardi had four hits and Mark Grace hit a three-run double at Houston as the Cubs stopped a season-high losing streak at seven.