Maddux Seems a Bit Familiar to Giants

Greg Maddux pitched into the ninth inning for the first time this year. The San Francisco Giants thought nothing had changed.

“It’s the same old stuff,” Rich Aurilia said after Maddux limited them to an unearned run and five hits in eight-plus innings during the Atlanta Braves’ 6-1 victory Wednesday at San Francisco.

“You know what he’s going to do to you,” Aurilia said. “He has great movement and hits his spots. There’s a reason he’s won so many games. He knows how to pitch and how to get people out.”

Maddux, who began the season on the disabled list with back problems, was happy just to get eight innings.

“I’ve been feeling better every time out and it feels good to pitch past the sixth inning,” he said. “Whatever feels right I just go ahead and trust it and throw it. They kept hitting balls right at people and didn’t get any cheap hits. I’ll take that.”

Maddux (4-2) walked two and struck out one. Thanks to a pair of double plays, Maddux threw only 66 pitches through the first seven innings. He retired 13 of 14 batters at one stretch, and improved to 23-12 against the Giants.

Arizona 6, Pittsburgh 2--Steve Finley’s sixth-inning homer struck a woman in a wheelchair located behind a protective railing, one of three Arizona home runs at Pittsburgh. Several fans rushed immediately to assist the woman in the right-field stands before paramedics arrived. She received several stitches in the head but otherwise was not seriously injured.

Luis Gonzalez and Junior Spivey also homered as Arizona took two of three in the series and finally won a game not started by Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. They had started during each of the Diamondbacks’ last three victories.

Colorado 7, Florida 2--Bobby Estalella hit two solo home runs and pinch-hitter Terry Shumpert had a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning at Denver. Todd Helton added a two-run single and Brent Butler a two-run double in the Rockies’ five-run seventh.

Jason Jennings (4-2) won before 27,898, the smallest crowd in Rockies’ history, breaking the previous low of 28,651 set the night before. About a mile away, the Colorado Avalanche was playing San Jose in Game 7 of the NHL’s Western Conference semifinals.

Cincinnati 7, Milwaukee 4--Jimmy Haynes beat his former team and Todd Walker tied his career high with four hits at Milwaukee as the Reds defeated the Brewers for the sixth straight time. Haynes (3-4), who was 7-18 for Milwaukee last season, gave up seven hits and two earned runs in 61/3 innings. He also had a sacrifice, a single and a run scored.

St. Louis 4, Chicago 1--Woody Williams emerged after nearly six weeks on the disabled list and gave up an unearned run in six innings at St. Louis. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo’s RBI triple off right fielder Sammy Sosa’s glove drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh. The Cubs lost their seventh in a row.

Houston 6, Philadelphia 2--Craig Biggio hit three doubles, leading Carlos Hernandez and the Astros to a three-game sweep at Houston. Hernandez (4-1) gave up four hits and two runs over seven strong innings.

San Diego 2, Montreal 1--Ryan Klesko’s drive off the right-field wall scored D’Angelo Jimenez from second with one out in the 14th inning at San Diego. The game lasted four hours 19 minutes