Cirillo Hits Three Homers in 17-13 Win

Jeff Cirillo hit three homers and a double, driving in six runs and scoring five Wednesday night to lead the Colorado Rockies over the San Francisco Giants, 17-13, at Denver.

Cirillo got a chance to match the major league record of four home runs in a game, but had an RBI groundout in the eighth inning.

Neifi Perez drove in four runs and Jeffrey Hammonds had four hits as the Rockies rallied from an early 8-1 deficit.

Cirillo went four for five with a walk. He became the seventh player in club history to have a three-homer game and matched the team mark of five runs scored, set by Walt Weiss on Sept. 20, 1995.

Cirillo hit a two-run shot in the third, a solo drive in the fifth and another two-run homer in the seventh.

Giants’ pitcher Livan Hernandez hit his third career home run, but lasted only five innings in giving up eight runs and 10 hits. Jeff Kent, Russ Davis and Bill Mueller also homered for San Francisco.

The Giants built a 5-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Jeff Kent and Ellis Burks and a bases-loaded triple by Bobby Estalella.

Hernandez’s two-run shot in the third made it 8-1.

A solo home run by Mike Lansing and Cirillo’s two-run shot keyed a four-run third by the Rockies.

Colorado closed to 11-8 in the fifth on Cirillo’s homer and Perez’s two-run double. The Rockies took a 12-11 lead in the seventh, highlighted by Brent Mayne’s two-run double.

Cincinnati 7, St. Louis 3--Benito Santiago’s first homer in nearly a month put Cincinnati ahead and Sean Casey doubled with the bases loaded as the struggling Reds rallied for a victory at Cincinnati.

The Reds won for only the sixth time in 21 games and moved to 7 1/2 behind St. Louis in the NL Central.

The Cardinals pulled ahead, 3-0, in the sixth, silencing a crowd of 37,861 that knew the home team badly needed a win.

Aaron Boone singled home the first run off Alan Benes (1-1) and Santiago--in a five-for-42 slump--hit a three-run homer, his first since May 30.

Casey’s bases-loaded double in the seventh off Mike Mathews drove in three more runs. Cincinnati scored all seven of its runs off the Cardinal bullpen.

Arizona 6, Houston 2--Brian Anderson had his second strong outing in a row and Jose Lima (1-12) set a Houston club record with his 12th consecutive loss.

Steve Finley drove in two runs with his 21st homer and a double as the Diamondbacks improved to 6-3 with five games left in a 14-game homestand.

Anderson (8-2) ran his shutout string to 15 innings before giving up a run in the eighth. He gave up six hits in 7 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked one.

New York 6, Florida 5--The Mets won their seventh consecutive game, as Mark Johnson’s two-run single capped a five-run sixth inning at New York.

Trailing, 4-1, in the sixth, the Mets rallied despite getting only two hits.

After striking out Jay Payton and Matt Franco to open the inning, Brad Penny lost his control. He walked Benny Agbayani, Kurt Abbott singled and pinch-hitter Robin Ventura walked.

Melvin Mora then drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the lead to 4-2 and finish Penny. Ricky Bones came on and walked Derek Bell. Mike Piazza reached on an error by shortstop Andy Fox, allowing pinch-runner Mike Hampton to score the tying run.

Johnson then lined a single to left, giving New York a 6-4 lead. It was the Mets’ only hit in 14 chances with runners in scoring position.

Chicago 5, Pittsburgh 4--The Cubs put aside the Sammy Sosa trade rumors for one night, rallying from a three-run deficit behind Jon Lieber’s pitching and Jose Nieves’ two-run homer at Pittsburgh.

Lieber (6-5) shook off an early 3-0 deficit to end the Cubs’ season-long five-game losing streak and his own five-game streak of winless starts.

Atlanta 7, Montreal 4--Terry Mulholland kept up his mastery of the Expos and Brian Jordan had a pair of RBI singles to lead the Braves at Montreal.

Mulholland (8-6) improved to 17-4 lifetime against the Expos. Kerry Ligtenberg picked up his fifth save.

Philadelphia 9, Milwaukee 7--Ron Gant’s second homer of the game capped a three-run eighth inning at Philadelphia.

Mickey Morandini opened the eighth with a triple against Juan Acevedo and Desi Relaford followed with another triple for a 7-6 lead.

Two outs later, Relaford scored on a wild pitch and Gant followed with his 14th home run.