Womack’s Homer Rescues Johnson

Tony Womack homered on one leg Thursday at Phoenix, and the blow made Randy Johnson the National League’s first 15-game winner.

Womack’s two-run homer in the ninth inning off St. Louis’ Dave Veres made Arizona a 3-2 winner.

It came only an inning after he considered leaving the game after landing awkwardly when he leaped to try to flag down Shawon Dunston’s double. Womack’s left knee buckled on the play, and he conferred with Manager Buck Showalter and Diamondback trainers before opting to stay in the game.

And then he homered, making his trip around the bases an easy one, sore knee or not.

“A walk-off home run? I’ve never heard that before,” said Womack, whose sixth homer tied the high for his career, set in 1997. “That’s a good feeling. But Randy pitched a good game, and he deserved to win.”

Johnson (15-2) pitched a six-hitter for his major league-leading sixth complete game, his first since a 2-0 loss at Montreal on May 16. He struck out 11 and walked one, but figured to be the losing pitcher when Eric Davis’ sacrifice fly put the Cardinals ahead, 2-1, in the ninth inning.

Houston 6, Cincinnati 2--Jose Lima won his second successive decision after losing 13 in a row, and Lance Berkman hit a three-run double for the Astros, who won at Houston.

Cincinnati’s Mike Bell struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, making history in the process. His family became the first to have three generations play for one major league team. Grandfather Gus Bell (1953-61) and father Buddy Bell (1985-88) previously played for the Reds.

Mark Wohlers returned to the major leagues for the first time since April 1999, making his Reds debut with two shutout innings in relief.

Atlanta 5-1, Florida 3-6--Tom Glavine (11-5) won at Miami for the first time in five years, giving up nine hits and three runs, two of them unearned, in 6 1/3 innings of the Braves’ victory in the first game of the doubleheader.

The Marlins won the second game, getting a two-run pinch-hit homer by Cliff Floyd in the seventh inning that broke a 1-1 tie. A.J. Burnett pitched seven innings in his 2000 debut.

San Francisco 7, San Diego 3--Jeff Kent hit a three-run homer, raising his league-leading RBI total to 88, to help Kirk Rueter (7-5) and the Giants win at San Francisco.

Kent’s 24th homer was his first since July 2 and ended a season-high six-game streak without driving in a run.

Russ Davis also homered for the Giants, who won for the 14th time in 17 games and avoided their first two-game losing streak since losing the last three games in June.

Philadelphia 3, Chicago 2--Bobby Abreu hit a tiebreaking home run off Kevin Tapani (6-8) to start the eighth inning, leading the Phillies to a win at Chicago.

Doug Glanville also hit a solo homer for the Phillies, who have won 10 of their last 17.

With the score tied, 2-2, Abreu connected, sending the ball over the right-field bleachers.

The plight was typical for Tapani, who is getting an average of only 3.4 runs per start from teammates this season.

Montreal 4, New York 1--Chris Widger hit a tiebreaking solo homer and a two-run double, and Dustin Hermanson (8-7) came within an out of his fourth complete game in the Expos’ victory at Montreal.

Montreal stopped a four-game losing streak and won for only the second time in 10 games. New York had won three in a row after losing nine of 12.

Widger put the Expos ahead, 2-1, when he led off the sixth inning with a home run and added a two-run double in the seventh.

Pittsburgh 9, Milwaukee 2--Wil Cordero drove in three runs with two doubles and Jose Silva won for the first time since June 13, giving the Pirates a victory at Milwaukee.

Silva (6-4) gave up four hits in eight innings, struck out five and walked three, and Pittsburgh won for only the second time in eight games since the All-Star break.