Gonzalez Goes Full Cycle in a 12-9 Victory

Luis Gonzalez went on the Tour de Enron, becoming the first Arizona Diamondback player to hit for the cycle.

Gonzalez doubled in the first inning, singled in the third, tripled in the eighth and homered in the ninth Wednesday night as the Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Houston Astros, 12-9, at Houston.

“Once you hit the triple, that’s the hardest thing to do, and you know you have the chance,” he said.

Gonzalez became the first player to hit for the cycle in Houston’s new Enron field, which opened this year. The home run came in the ninth against Doug Henry.

“I didn’t want to get beat or cheated inside, I just wanted to get the head of the bat out,” the former Astro said. “I knew I needed a home run. To know that only 200-some guys have done it in history makes it special to have my name on something like that.”

Gonzalez, who went four for six, is the fifth player to hit for the cycle this season, the 126th in National League history and 229th in the major leagues.

Pittsburgh 9, Chicago 6--Wil Cordero had two homers and a career-high six runs batted in to lead the Pirates at Chicago.

Cordero hit a three-run homer in the third against Scott Downs (3-3), a two-run single in the fourth and a solo homer in the sixth against Steve Rain. It was his first multi-homer game since April 29, 1998, when he had five RBIs for the Chicago White Sox against the Baltimore Orioles.

Jimmy Anderson (2-5) won for the first time in nine starts since April 15 against the New York Mets, giving up four runs, three earned, and five hits while walking three in five innings.

St. Louis 4, Cincinnati 3--Pat Hentgen pitched seven strong innings and pinch-hitter Shawon Dunston’s home run broke a seventh-inning tie at St. Louis.

The Cardinals won the first two games of the series to open a 10-game lead over the second-place Reds in the National League Central, their first double-digit lead since Sept. 21, 1968. They’ve won 17 of 22, while the Reds have lost 19 of 28.

Hentgen (7-6) matched his longest outing of the season, giving up three runs on five hits.

New York 11, Florida 2--While Mike Hampton shut down the Marlins for six innings and drove in a run, Derek Bell hit a three-run homer for the second consecutive game and went three for six at Miami.

Hampton (8-5) won for the sixth time in seven decisions after a 2-4 start, giving up two runs, including Preston Wilson’s sixth-inning homer. He struck out five and walked two, stopping the Marlins’ season-high five-game winning streak.

Hampton also singled in the second, sixth and seventh innings.

Montreal 6, Atlanta 5--Kevin Millwood, who has won only once in 10 starts since May 17, gave up run-scoring singles to Rondell White and Vladimir Guerrero as the Expos broke a seventh-inning tie at Atlanta.

Last year, Millwood was 11-4 with a 3.20 earned-run average at the All-Star break and was the only Atlanta pitcher picked for the National League team. This year, he’s 5-7 with a 4.96 ERA and is 1-5 in his last 10 starts.

With the score tied at 3-3 and out one in the seventh, he gave up consecutive singles to Wilton Guerrero, Jose Vidro, White and Guerrero.

Philadelphia 5, Milwaukee 2--Mike Lieberthal hit a three-run homer and Randy Wolf gave up one run in seven innings at Milwaukee as the Phillies extended their winning streak to a season-high five games.

Lieberthal’s 13th homer capped a four-run fifth inning against starter Jamey Wright (4-2).

San Francisco 4, Colorado 2--Rich Aurilia hit a two-run homer, Marvin Benard added a solo shot and Joe Nathan became the third consecutive Giant pitcher to shut down the Rockies’ suddenly weak offense at San Francisco.

Aurilia’s eighth homer gave the Giants a 3-2 lead in the seventh. Benard, who hit his seventh homer leading off the sixth, added a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the Giants’ final run.