Daal Helps Himself to a Victory

Philadelphia Phillie starter Omar Daal improved to 4-0 thanks more to his hitting than his pitching Sunday.

On the mound, Daal gave up six runs in five-plus innings. At the plate, he had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run in a nine-run second inning as the Phillies beat the Giants, 10-8, at Philadelphia.

“He takes a lot of pride in his hitting, he works on it,” Phillie Manager Larry Bowa said.

“This is the National League and you have to bat,” said Daal, who is four for 14 this season and had 14 hits last season for a .267 average. “If the pitcher can be a good hitter, you extend the game longer, you don’t need a pinch-hitter.”

Philadelphia’s highest-scoring inning since an 11-run eighth against Milwaukee in September 1999 was highlighted by Bobby Abreu’s three-run double and Kevin Jordan’s two-run double.

Jimmy Rollins drove in runs with a single and triple, the latter scoring Daal to make the score 10-2.

Bowa, who has been waiting for his offense to start clicking, was pleased.

“Any time you get 10, that’s a breakout,” Bowa said. “I wish we had a couple of more like that.”

Giant starter Kirk Rueter (3-3) went one-plus inning, giving up eight runs--seven earned--and six hits.

The Phillies, who tied with the Chicago Cubs for the worst record in baseball last season and now lead the NL East at 18-12, also scored a run in the first on Doug Glanville’s homer.

Daal already has matched his win total from last season, when he went 4-19. Jose Mesa pitched the ninth inning for his eighth save in nine tries.

Atlanta 7, St. Louis 5--Chipper Jones homered twice to reach 200 for his career, and Wes Helms hit a two-run double for the Braves at Atlanta.

Atlanta had to use five pitchers after starter Kevin Millwood left after two innings complaining of a stiff right shoulder.

With the score tied 4-4 in the seventh, the Braves scored three unearned runs off Gene Stechschulte (0-2) with help from two errors by shortstop Edgar Renteria.

Millwood will undergo an MRI today and is not likely to join the team when its leaves for San Diego today.

Damian Moss took Millwood’s place, but he was hurt in the sixth inning as he was running to cover first base. He has an MRI scheduled for today too.

San Diego 8, Cincinnati 2--Ryan Klesko went two for four with four RBIs at Cincinnati as the Padres completed their first sweep of the Reds in three years.

Padre starter Brian Tollberg (3-2) gave up two hits in 5 2/3 innings before leaving the game after being hit on the hand by a comebacker off the bat of Sean Casey in the sixth. Rodney Myers, Jimmy Ostling and David Lee finished the four-hitter for San Diego.

It was Bruce Bochy’s 500th victory as San Diego’s manager.

Pittsburgh 4, Colorado 3--Aramis Ramirez had a game-winning bases-loaded single in the 11th, and Jason Kendall hit a three-run homer before tripling to start the winning rally for the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

Rookie left-hander Joe Beimel (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings for the victory. Gabe White (0-3), who had pitched a scoreless 10th, took the loss--the Rockies’ seventh in 10 games.

Houston 13, Montreal 7--Jeff Bagwell’s fourth career grand slam capped a six-run sixth inning, and Richard Hidalgo added a three-run homer for the Astros at Montreal.

Julio Lugo went five for five, including two doubles, and Bagwell went four for five with five RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the first off Chris Peters (2-3). Moises Alou hit a two-run home run in the first as the Astros won their fourth in a row and had season highs in runs and hits (18).

Only 6,041 were on hand to see the Expos lose their fourth in a row, and seventh of eight.

Arizona 8, New York 2--Luis Gonzalez drove in four runs, three of them with his 15th homer, and unbeaten Curt Schilling won his fifth consecutive decision for the Diamondbacks at New York.

Schilling gave up eight hits over seven innings, walked one and struck out nine, pushing his career total to 1,800.

Florida 5, Milwaukee 1--Chuck Smith won his 2001 debut, giving up three hits in eight innings and driving in two runs for the Marlins at Miami.

Smith had been sidelined since March 24, when he sprained his right shoulder in a fall as he crossed home plate during a spring training game.

He struck out seven, walked one and hit a batter.