Expos’ Vazquez Gets Untracked

The Montreal Expos were doing well without a victory from ace Javier Vazquez. Now, they’ve got him going too.

Vazquez pitched a five-hitter and Peter Bergeron drove in two runs, and the Expos beat the Astros, 5-1, Tuesday night at Houston.

Vazquez (1-1), who pitched nine innings in a 15-inning victory over Milwaukee in his last start, struck out nine and walked none. It was his 11th career complete game.

“He pitched what I call a clean game,” Expo Manager Frank Robinson said. “There were no walks, he kept the runners on the base and he kept the pitch count in his favor. He was sharp and able to get all of his pitches in the strike zone.”

New York 10, Arizona 1--Mike Piazza homered twice and drove in six runs at Phoenix, helping the Mets win their fifth consecutive game.

Philadelphia 8, San Francisco 2--Vicente Padilla (3-2) retired the first 15 batters at San Francisco and the Phillies ended a six-game skid.

Colorado 10, Pittsburgh 0--Mike Hampton won for the first time, pitching seven scoreless innings at Denver, and Todd Helton hit a solo home run and a two-run single.

Milwaukee 4, Atlanta 3--Nelson Figueroa (1-1) settled down after a rocky first inning and hit a two-run single against Greg Maddux (2-2) to lift the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Florida 7, St. Louis 2--A.J. Burnett (4-2) gave up three hits in eight innings and Cliff Floyd hit two solo homers for the Marlins at St. Louis.

San Diego 2, Chicago 1--Sean Burroughs’ run-scoring triple in the eighth inning lifted the Padres at San Diego.

Trevor Hoffman earned his eighth save, giving him 320 with the Padres to tie Dennis Eckersley’s record for saves with one team.