Jenkins Hits Three in Victory

When Geoff Jenkins walked to the plate in the seventh inning Wednesday at Milwaukee, home runs were on his mind.

“You try not to think about it, but you’d be lying if it wasn’t in the back of your mind,” he said.

Jenkins homered in his first three at-bats off Jake Peavy. Then, with a chance to hit four homers in a game for only the 15th time in major league history, Jenkins grounded out and struck out as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 10-0.

“It wasn’t really my swing. It was pitch selection,” he said. “It’s just one of those days when I saw the ball good.”

While Jenkins and Richie Sexson supplied much of the offense, Wayne Franklin (3-4) pitched a two-hitter in his 14th major league start. Rondell White beat out an infield hit leading off the second, and pinch-hitter Ramon Vazquez singled to center leading off the ninth.

Jenkins, three for five with four RBIs, hit a two-run homer in the first to put Milwaukee ahead, then hit solo homers in the fourth and sixth innings. He grounded back to reliever Luther Hackman in the seventh, and struck out against Mike Matthews in the eighth.

“All in all, it was a good day for us,” Jenkins said.

San Francisco 6, Arizona 0 -- Jason Schmidt threw a four-hitter in his second shutout of the season and Marquis Grissom homered twice at Phoenix.

Barry Bonds doubled in three runs in the fifth inning but left in the bottom of the seventh with a mild sprain of his right ankle. He was hurt when he stepped on first base while running out a groundout in the top half of the inning.

Neifi Perez had two leadoff doubles as the Giants took two of three in their first series of the season against the two-time defending NL West champions, who fell to 2-4 so far in a 10-game homestand.

St. Louis 7, Houston 4 -- Woody Williams won his ninth straight decision and Cal Eldred got Astro slugger Jeff Bagwell to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded at Houston.

Albert Pujols homered and drove in four runs for the Cardinals.

Williams (6-0) hasn’t lost a decision since Aug. 29 at Cincinnati.

New York 5, Philadelphia 4 -- Tony Clark singled home the winning run in the ninth inning at New York, ending the Phillies’ three-game winning streak.

Marco Scutaro opened the ninth with a single off Terry Adams (0-2) and moved to second on Roberto Alomar’s groundout. Clark then lined a single to right field and Scutaro scored without a throw.

Cincinnati 9, Atlanta 3 -- Austin Kearns’ bases-loaded double completed a six-run fourth inning at Cincinnati.

Adam Dunn later added a pinch three-run homer, his major league-leading 17th, as the Reds won for the 11th time in 15 games.

Montreal 7, Florida 2 -- Ron Calloway drove in two runs with one of six Expo doubles and rookie Claudio Vargas won his second straight decision at Montreal.

Only 5,282 fans were on hand as Montreal hit six doubles for the second straight game and improved to 10-4 at Olympic Stadium.

Pittsburgh 5, Chicago 2 -- Jack Wilson and Brian Giles homered in a span of five pitches in the sixth inning at Pittsburgh as Kerry Wood (4-2) failed for the fourth straight start to win his 50th game.

Pittsburgh’s Kevin Young was booed loudly when he pinch-hit in the eighth. During a weekend road trip, Young said the Pirates’ lukewarm fan support was one reason they play poorly at home.