Braves Not Affected by Inside Job

Robert Fick doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Atlanta Braves overcame a strange inside-the-park homer by Sean Burroughs to beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4, Friday night at San Diego.

Atlanta improved to 29-13, the best record in the majors, while the Padres (13-29) lost for the 15th time in 18 games and have the worst record in the NL.

Fick’s RBI double into the right-field corner off Charles Nagy (0-1) drove in Andruw Jones, who led off with a single, for a 5-4 lead. After Javy Lopez singled, pinch-runner Darren Bragg scored on a throwing error by third baseman Burroughs.

Kevin Gryboski (3-2) pitched a scoreless inning, and John Smoltz worked a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.

The Padres had already scored twice in the third inning on RBI singles by Rondell White and Xavier Nady when Burroughs’ inside-the-park home run set off an argument.

Burroughs sliced Mike Hampton’s pitch down the left-field line. Chipper Jones missed on a diving attempt and the ball bounced into the Padre bullpen in foul territory.

Replays clearly showed that the ball went through an open gate that leads to a bathroom. The ball hit a trash can and bounced back out into the bullpen.

San Francisco 7, New York 5 -- Edgardo Alfonzo homered and drove in four runs against his former team, and Yorvit Torrealba hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning to lift the Giants over the Mets at San Francisco.

Met star Mike Piazza left in the first inning because of a strained right groin after trying to avoid an inside pitch from Jason Schmidt. X-rays were inconclusive, and Piazza is expected to be put on the 15-day disabled list.

Milwaukee 12, Cincinnati 3 -- At Milwaukee, Wes Helms went four for five with a grand slam, Geoff Jenkins also drove in four runs and the Brewers ended a losing streak.

The Brewer batters, who set an NL record for strikeouts with 24 in a 17-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, struck out seven times Friday.

Adam Dunn homered in his fifth consecutive game for the Reds.

Wayne Franklin (2-4) struck out nine, three more than his previous career high and the most by a Milwaukee pitcher this season. He gave up two runs and four hits and walked three in six innings.

Montreal 4, Colorado 1 -- Michael Barrett hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and Livan Hernandez came up with a solid start at Coors Field.

Hernandez, who had a 10.10 career earned-run average at Coors, pitched into the eighth inning and retired eight in a row at one point.

Rocky Biddle pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances. He struck out the first two batters, then walked two before retiring pinch-hitter Jay Payton on a fly ball.

Pittsburgh 8, Arizona 5 -- Randall Simon hit a three-run homer off Matt Mantei in the 12th inning at Phoenix.

Pirate outfielder Kenny Lofton homered off Miguel Batista on the second pitch of the game to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, equaling the longest in the National League this season and one shy of his career best.

Houston 4, Philadelphia 2 -- At Houston, Lance Berkman hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning and the Astro bullpen was brilliant again.

Geoff Blum hit a two-run homer for the Astros, who won for the 12th time in 15 games. The bullpen added three scoreless innings to lower its ERA to 2.68.