Henderson Strolls Along Walk of Fame

Rickey Henderson set the major league walks record at 2,063, but it did little good for the San Diego Padres, who lost, 5-3, to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night at San Diego.

Henderson walked on a 3-and-1 pitch from reliever Jose Mesa leading off the ninth to take sole possession of the mark he had shared for a day with Babe Ruth.

Henderson tossed his bat aside and jogged to first. He shook hands with first-base coach Alan Trammell and acknowledged the standing ovation from what remained of the crowd of 12,573.

“The record is outstanding,” Henderson said. “It’s great to be in a class with Babe Ruth and all that good stuff, but I’m the type of person that wants to win.

“I still feel great about breaking this record by one of the greatest ballplayers who ever played this game.”

Henderson, the all-time steals leader, was thrown out by catcher Mike Lieberthal trying to take second as Mike Colangelo struck out.

Henderson finished one for four with the walk, and also committed an error when he dropped Marlon Anderson’s fly ball to left in the seventh.

Travis Lee hit a two-run homer for the second time in three games for the Phillies, who won their sixth straight.

But the talk was of Henderson after the game.

“It’s quite a milestone,” Padre Manager Bruce Bochy said. “You’re talking about history. I don’t know if that will ever be broken. I’m proud for Rickey.

“It was great getting the leadoff hitter on that inning. But then we fell short.”

Henderson, considered the greatest leadoff hitter in history, signed a minor league contract with the Padres with two weeks left in spring training and was called up on April 17, his 23rd big league season.

Henderson, 42, needs 67 runs to break Ty Cobb’s record of 2,245, and 84 hits to become the 25th player to reach 3,000.

St. Louis 5, Montreal 2--Albert Pujols had three RBIs for the third straight game, hitting a three-run homer to lead the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Pujols, 21, leads the Cardinals with seven homers and 22 RBIs and is batting .375. His drive to straightaway center off Britt Reames (2-1) gave St. Louis a 4-2 lead in the fourth.

In the last three games, Pujols has three homers, two doubles and nine RBIs.

Jim Edmonds was three for three for St. Louis with an RBI single in the first. He singled and scored in the fourth, doubled in the sixth and walked in the eighth, raising his average to .377.

Arizona 10, Florida 7--Curt Schilling struck out 12, moving ahead of teammate Randy Johnson for the major-league lead at Phoenix.

Schilling (3-0) has 50 strikeouts to Johnson’s 48 this season.

It was his 53rd career game with double-digit strikeouts and third of the season.

But Schilling wasn’t at the top of his game, giving up 13 hits and seven runs in seven-plus innings in front of 23,097 fans--the smallest crowd in Bank One Ballpark history.

Colorado 6, Chicago 5--Todd Helton homered twice and drove in five runs and Jeff Cirillo hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly at Denver.

Helton hit a three-run drive in the first inning. With the Rockies trailing, 4-3, in the seventh, he hit a two-run homer off Felix Heredia for his 17th multi-homer game, his second this season.

Todd Hundley tied the score at 5-5 in the ninth with a solo homer off Jose Jimenez (1-0), who blew his second save in seven chances.

Colorado then loaded the bases with one out against Courtney Duncan (1-1), who walked Terry Shumpert, gave up a single to Larry Walker and gave Helton an intentional walk.

Cirillo flied to center, and Damon Buford’s throw was late and to the first-base side of home plate.

Cincinnati 7, San Francisco 5--Barry Larkin hit the first of five run-scoring singles in Cincinnati’s six-run sixth inning at San Francisco as the Reds won their sixth straight road game.

The Giants failed to fill Pacific Bell Park for the second game in a row after a string of 90 consecutive sellouts.

The team drew 40,763, 296 short of capacity.

The Reds went up, 6-2, in the third inning with seven hits off Giant starter Kirk Rueter (2-2).

Atlanta 11, Houston 3--Kevin Millwood got his first victory of the season before leaving the game because of a sore left hip and Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer at Houston.

Millwood (1-2), who had not won since Sept. 22, gave up three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.

After Richard Hidalgo flied out for the first out in the seventh, the Braves trainer went to the mound to talk to Millwood, who then left the game. His status is day to day.

Milwaukee 7, New York 2--Richie Sexson hit a two-run triple in a four-run seventh and Jimmy Haynes survived a tough first inning at Milwaukee.

After hitting three home runs to win the series opener, 6-4, the Brewers had nine singles and a pair of sacrifice flies in building a 3-2 lead against Steve Trachsel (0-4).

Haynes (2-2) gave up two runs, eight hits and four walks--three that came in the first inningwith one out. But Benny Agbayani hit into an inning-ending double play.