Rockies Roll Over Cardinals Again, 13-9

Todd Helton hit a three-run homer, Larry Walker had a two-run shot and the Colorado Rockies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 13-9, on Wednesday night at Denver.

The Rockies, 8-0 winners over the Cardinals in the season opener Monday behind Mike Hampton, got a solid outing from Denny Neagle (1-0). Neagle went five innings, giving up seven hits and three runs and striking out seven. He left with a 12-3 lead.

Jim Edmonds and Ray Lankford each hit two homers for the Cardinals. Both of Edmonds’ two-run shots soared into the upper deck at Coors Field, only the 14th and 15th time that homers have been hit there. Both of Lankford’s homers came against reliever John Wasdin.

Helton and Walker each drove in four runs, and Neifi Perez went four for four and had three runs batted in.

Jose Jimenez pitched 1 1/3 innings for his first save of the season.

San Francisco 8, San Diego 7--An error by Ben Davis allowed Calvin Murray to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning at San Francisco.

The Padres had tied the score with a run in the top of the ninth.

Montreal 3, Chicago 2--Kerry Wood struck out 10 and shut down the Expos for six innings at Chicago.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, that didn’t include the first.

Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run single and Orlando Cabrera added an RBI single, and the Expos made it stand up.

The Cubs had plenty of chances to get their first victory of the season. Ricky Gutierrez and Gary Matthews Jr. each drove in runs, and the Cubs had the bases loaded in the third inning. But they stranded 11 runners, including six at third base and three at second.

Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 5--The Pirates lost another pitcher but still won at Cincinnati, giving rookie Manager Lloyd McClendon his first victory.

Kevin Young hit a 10th-inning homer after the Pirates tied the score with three unearned runs in the top of the ninth against closer Danny Graves.

Pittsburgh had a little bit of luck at the end. A fielding error by third baseman Aaron Boone set up the three-run rally in the ninth, and Young’s homer against Scott Sullivan (0-1) landed just to the left of the 40-foot wall in center field.

Pirate starter Terry Mulholland suffered a sprained ligament in his left knee on a pitch in the fourth inning and limped off the field. It was uncertain how long he’ll be sidelined, but such injuries typically cost pitchers several starts.

It was another demoralizing setback for the Pirates, who already have three-fifths of their rotation on the disabled list. Projected opening-day starter Kris Benson and the last two opening-day starters, Francisco Cordova and Jason Schmidt, are sidelined at least until early May.

Philadelphia 7, Florida 3--Bobby Abreu had two hits, including a home run, and the Phillies scored four runs in the eighth inning at Miami to complete their first season-opening three-game sweep since 1994.

Houston 8, Milwaukee 6--Richard Hidalgo’s three-run homer in the 12th inning, his second homer of the game, lifted the Astros at Houston.

After the Brewers went ahead, 6-5, in the top of the 12th on Raul Casanova’s sacrifice fly against Jay Powell (1-0), the Astros rallied in the bottom half.