Larkin Finally Makes a Grand Entrance

Barry Larkin’s first grand slam was a long time coming.

Larkin broke in with the Reds in 1986 and led all active major league players in at-bats without a slam at 6,734 before connecting against Al Leiter to help the Cincinnati Reds defeat the New York Mets, 9-5, Friday night at Cincinnati.

“I hit a ball off the wall in San Francisco a few years ago, and I hit a ball off the wall in Pittsburgh last week,” Larkin said. “I just happened to get some elevation on that one.”

Leiter, who had one of the worst nights of his career, took the slam with grace.

“I’ve given up grand slams to lesser names than Barry Larkin,” Leiter said. “I can’t believe it was his first.”

Larkin’s teammates had been needling him about not having a slam.

“These guys have been so hard on me,” Larkin said. “After I hit that double in Pittsburgh, Juan Castro put a 25-pound weight in my locker. [Michael] Tucker and Junior [Griffey] were all over me.

“Every time I hit a home run in batting practice, [Sean] Casey says, ‘That’s where you’re going to hit your granny.’ I think everybody enjoyed that.”

The mantle of longest-serving major leaguer without a slam passes to Mark McLemore of the Seattle Mariners, who went into Friday’s game with 4,910 at-bats.

Aaron Boone had a two-run homer for Cincinnati, and Jason LaRue drove in two with a single and double.

Osvaldo Fernandez (3-1) gave up four runs on seven hits, three walks and three strikeouts in six innings.

Jim Brower pitched three innings for his first major league save.

Larkin said the only thing he regretted about finally getting his slam was that his wife didn’t see it.

“I told my wife to stay home because it was threatening rain. I’ll never hear the end of that,” Larkin said. “But my dad was here, and I was glad Lenny Harris [now with the Mets] was here. That meant a lot to me. We broke in together and we’ve been though a lot together.”

Philadelphia 8, Atlanta 3--Pinch-hitter Kevin Jordan’s grand slam capped a six-run seventh inning as the Phillies won at Philadelphia.

The Phillies, who tied the Chicago Cubs for the worst record in the majors last season, are in first place in the NL East at 9-6.

Wayne Gomes (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh for the victory. Starter Omar Daal, a 19-game loser last season, gave up two runs and five hits in six innings.

Andruw Jones homered and Chipper Jones added an RBI double for the Braves, who had won four of six. Atlanta (8-9), is under .500 this late in the season for the first time since starting 12-13 in 1993.

Chicago 8, Pittsburgh 2--Sammy Sosa hit a grand slam in the ninth off Jose Silva at Pittsburgh, the first grand slam in PNC Park.

Sosa has six homers in 12 games. It was his fifth career slam.

The Cubs won their sixth in seven games--they are 4-0 against Pittsburgh--and are 11-5 for the first time since 1985, when they opened 17-8.

Jon Lieber (1-1) withstood Kevin Young’s two-run homer in the fourth to win for the first time in 10 starts since Aug. 30.

San Francisco 3, Milwaukee 1--Barry Bonds homered for the seventh time in eight games, and Russ Ortiz outdueled Jimmy Haynes as the Giants won at San Francisco.

Bonds’ 502nd career homer came one night after his streak of six consecutive games with a home run--tied for the second-longest in NL history--ended against the Dodgers.

Houston 10, St. Louis 1--Moises Alou drove in three runs at Houston in his first start of the season for the Astros and Cardinal starter Rick Ankiel again struggled with his control.

Alou, who has been on the disabled list with a strained right calf, was two for four with a double and scored a run.

Scott Elarton (3-1) defeated the Cardinals for the second consecutive time as he went seven innings, giving up one run and three hits.

Ankiel (1-2) gave up three earned runs and three hits in three innings, but walked five and hit two batters.

Arizona 3, Colorado 2--Reggie Sanders hit his second home run of the game with two outs in the ninth at Phoenix as the Diamondbacks snapped the Rockies’ five-game winning streak. Sanders, who has five homers, hit an 0-2 pitch from Gabe White (0-2) into the left-field seats. His leadoff homer in the fifth had put Arizona up 2-0.

Florida 5, Montreal 1--Preston Wilson hit two home runs and Jason Grilli gave up three hits over seven innings to lead the Marlins at Miami.Wilson, who began the game with only one homer, hit a two-run shot in the third off Tony Armas (0-4) and had a solo homer in the eighth.