Feliz Does His Share to Help Giants Win

Pedro Feliz had played the outfield only once before and was replacing one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.

Feliz homered for the second straight game in place of Barry Bonds and Kurt Ainsworth ended a four-game losing streak as the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-1, Saturday at Coors Field.

Feliz, an infielder, got the start in left after Bonds was diagnosed with tendinitis in his right knee. Bonds was injured during Friday night’s 10-7 loss when he crashed into the wall on a flyball by Preston Wilson in the fourth inning.

Feliz did his best Bonds imitation in the sixth inning with a 447-foot homer to center off Scott Elarton (0-1), a three-run shot.

The Giants improved their NL-best road record to 18-8. They are off to their best road start since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 0 -- Matt Morris pitched his second consecutive shutout and Fernando Vina and Jim Edmonds homered in a three-run second inning at Pittsburgh. That was more than enough support for Morris (6-3) to win for the fifth time in six starts.

Montreal 3, Philadelphia 2 -- Wil Cordero hit the Expos’ fifth game-ending homer of the season before 33,236 fans, the largest non-opening day crowd at Olympic Stadium in six years.

It was Montreal’s largest crowd for any game other than a home opener since July 19, 1997, when 34,518 attended an 8-6 loss to Houston.

Chicago 3, Houston 2 -- The Cubs and Astros have split the first two games of their three-game series at Houston, leaving Chicago with a 1 1/2-game lead over Houston and St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cubs are 8-5 since Sammy Sosa went on the disabled list May 10.

Florida 5, Cincinnati 4 -- Ken Griffey Jr. hit a pair of two-run homers, but it wasn’t enough offense to beat the Marlins at Cincinnati, disappointing a sellout crowd of 41,285. The Reds fell below .500 for the first time since May 17.

San Diego 5, Arizona 1 -- Brian Lawrence retired his last 20 batters in pitching a two-hitter at Phoenix and the Padres beat Curt Schilling to end a nine-game losing streak.

Lawrence (3-5) earned his first victory since April 11. He was 0-5 in his previous seven starts.