Sexson Finds His Groove at Atlanta

The way Milwaukee Manager Ned Yost figured it, Richie Sexson ran out of places to hit home runs.

“He hit one to left, center and right. Where else was he going to hit it?” Yost quipped.

Sexson tied a career high with three home runs, and John Vander Wal homered twice to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over the Atlanta Braves, 12-5, Friday night at Atlanta.

Sexson hit a three-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the third off Shane Reynolds (1-1), and another solo drive in the sixth off Trey Hodges. Sexson, who doubled in the fourth, grounded out in the ninth. He finished with five RBIs and a franchise-record 14 total bases.

“You’re not going to have many nights like this,” Sexson said. “You just enjoy them when you can.”

Vander Wal had a two-run homer in the third and a grand slam in the fourth, giving him six RBIs. The Brewers, who led 11-0 in the fourth, had lost three in a row and hadn’t homered in a week.

Atlanta had won nine of its previous 10 games.

“They didn’t leave anybody on base,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said. “They cleaned the plates, the table, the garbage, everything.”

Ben Sheets (2-2) scattered 11 hits and gave up five runs in seven innings.

San Francisco 7, Philadelphia 4 -- Pat Burrell dropped J.T. Snow’s shallow fly to left, allowing three runs to score in the eighth, helping the Giants win at Philadelphia. Marquis Grissom hit a two-run homer and Jose Cruz Jr. added a solo shot for the Giants, off to an NL-best 18-4 start.

The Phillies, who entered the game tied with the Giants for best fielding percentage in the NL, committed two errors that led to five runs in the eighth. The game was played in a steady rain from the fourth inning on.

Chicago 11, Colorado 7 -- Mark Prior drove in four runs, hit the first homer of his career and gave up only two runs and five hits in seven-plus innings to help the Cubs win at Denver. Corey Patterson was four for five with a homer and three RBIs for the Cubs.

Prior was pulled in the eighth after issuing a leadoff walk to Ronnie Belliard. Todd Helton followed with a two-run homer to left off Mike Remlinger, his sixth of the season, then Larry Walker made it 8-4 with a solo shot to left that just cleared the wall.

San Diego 7, Cincinnati 3 -- Jake Peavy struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced, giving up only three hits in 6 1/3 innings, and Rondell White had a two-run double and Xavier Nady a two-run homer for the Padres at Cincinnati.

St. Louis 9, Florida 2 -- At Miami, Brett Tomko pitched a nine-hitter, Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer and the Cardinals ended a losing streak at five. Tomko (2-2) struck out three in his first complete game of the season.

New York 4, Arizona 3 -- Raul Gonzalez delivered yet another big hit since being promoted from the minors, a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning that helped the Mets win at New York for their third straight victory. Struggling reliever Armando Benitez escaped a ninth-inning jam to give the Mets their longest winning streak of the season.

Montreal 10, Houston 2 -- Zach Day came within two outs of his first shutout and Wil Cordero hit a two-run homer for the Expos at Montreal. Only 6,863 were on hand at Olympic Stadium as Montreal improved to 14-9.