Piazza Has Bench Mark

Mike Piazza knows what it means to have his name mentioned with Johnny Bench.

Piazza hit his 327th home run as a catcher, tying Bench for second-most at the position, and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, Tuesday night to end a five-game losing streak.

“Obviously, to be in the same sentence as Johnny Bench, for a catcher it’s definitely an honor,” Piazza said. “He’s the barometer by which all catchers are measured.”

Piazza’s two-run homer in the first inning was his 23rd. The only player to hit more career home runs as a catcher was Carlton Fisk, with 351.

Pedro Astacio (11-4) pitched a three-hitter for his third complete game and the 30th of his career. He struck out a season-high 10 and walked three.

Atlanta 4, Arizona 3--Andruw Jones’ home run with two out in the 13th inning at Phoenix was decisive. Jones hit Mike Koplove’s first pitch 414 feet into the second deck just inside the left-field foul pole for his 24th home run.

Curt Schilling failed for the second time to get his 19th victory, allowing three runs and seven hits while striking out 11 in throwing a season-high 131 pitches in 7 1/3 innings. But the Diamondbacks rallied for two runs off John Smoltz in the ninth to force extra innings. It was Smoltz’s first blown save in 26 chances since May 29.

Montreal 10, St. Louis 1--Masato Yoshii pitched a seven-hitter to win for the first time since April 16, and Jose Macias had four hits to help hand host St. Louis its season-worst sixth consecutive defeat.

Yoshii (3-4) pitched his third career complete game. He struck out four and walked none, giving up a run on a first-inning wild pitch.

Houston 2, Florida 0--Dave Mlicki won for the first time in eight starts, and Lance Berkman drove in both runs at Houston. Mlicki (4-7), who went on the disabled list May 26 with a strained muscle in his left rib cage, hadn’t won since April 27 at Atlanta. He gave up five hits, struck out five and walked four in five innings.

Colorado 7, Cincinnati 6--The Rockies’ Denny Stark (7-2) continued his effective pitching at Coors Field, giving up only one run and three hits in six innings. In six starts this season in the hitter-friendly ballpark at Denver, Stark is 5-0 with a 2.21 ERA.