Glavine Wins Big Showdown With Johnson

If Tom Glavine wins another Cy Young award, he might remember this game as a vote-getter.

The Atlanta Brave left-hander became the NL’s first 19-game winner in a showdown between the two leading Cy Young candidates, recovering from a torturous first inning to beat Arizona and Randy Johnson, 5-2, Tuesday night at Atlanta.

“It’s fun,” said Glavine (19-6), who gave up only five hits and one earned run in seven innings. “It means you’re doing something right, or people wouldn’t be talking about it. As a pitcher, you look forward to these kinds of matchups.”

Johnson (17-6) struck out 11 in six innings but gave up three homers--including two two-run shots to Chipper Jones. Johnson is only 2-4 with a 3.75 earned-run average since starting the All-Star game.

“I feel like I’m pitching good,” he said. “The velocity is right where it was at the beginning of the year. You’ve got to give the opposition some credit too.”

The Braves won for only the fourth time in 12 games and kept a one-game lead over New York in the National League East. The Mets defeated Cincinnati, 3-2, to move five games ahead of Arizona in the wild-card race.

“I don’t want to put too much on one game,” said Johnson, who left the game a strikeout shy of his fourth 300-strikeout season. “But this is the last month. Every pitch is important, every at-bat is important. I wish I could have a couple of pitches back.”

San Francisco 8, Philadelphia 5--Barry Bonds hit two home runs for the second consecutive game to help the Giants open a season-high 6 1/2-game lead in the NL West.

Bill Mueller hit the go-ahead homer in the seventh inning, and Rich Aurilia, Ellis Burks and J.T. Snow also homered for the Giants, who won their seventh game in a row to extend their lead over Arizona.

The six homers were the most for San Francisco since hitting six on May 4, 1963, at the Polo Grounds against the New York Mets.

John Johnstone (3-4) pitched one hitless inning for his first victory since April 29. Robb Nen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 35th save in 40 opportunities, and a major-league best 22nd in a row.

New York 3, Cincinnati 2--Todd Zeile’s solo shot off Scott Sullivan (2-6) in the 10th inning helped the Mets snap a four-game losing streak.

Turk Wendell (7-4) got the victory and Armando Benitez pitched the 10th for his 37th save, one shy of John Franco’s team record set in 1998.

St. Louis 7, Montreal 6--Ray Lankford homered twice and rookie Britt Reames didn’t give up a hit for 5 2/3 innings at St. Louis as the Cardinals won their sixth in a row.

The Cardinals matched their season-high winning streak and pulled 10 games ahead in the NL Central, also matching a season best. But they had to hang on after taking a 6-0 lead in the third.

Houston 9, Florida 5--Tony McKnight got his first career victory and Julio Lugo homered as the Astros won before 27,408, the smallest crowd at Enron Field since it opened in April.

McKnight (1-1), recalled from triple-A New Orleans on Friday, was backed by an early 8-0 lead. He gave up two runs--one earned--and five hits in five innings. It was his second major league start.

Colorado 10, Chicago 2--Julian Tavarez (10-2) pitched a four-hitter at Colorado for his first career complete game and won his fifth consecutive start in the Rockies’ victory.

Todd Walker homered, tripled, singled and drove in three runs, going three for three. Todd Helton was two for four with a solo home run, leaving his batting average at .387.

San Diego 3, Milwaukee 1--Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin hit consecutive home runs in the fourth inning to lead the Padres to victory at San Diego.

Jay Witasick (3-1), acquired from Kansas City on July 31, gave up an unearned run and three hits, tying a career high with 10 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth for his 37th save in 44 chances.