Grissom Makes It a Grand Win

Marquis Grissom played on a tender ankle, but the San Francisco Giants know they’re going to need more gutsy performances in September to reach the playoffs again.

Grissom hit a grand slam after fouling a ball off his left ankle, and also started an eighth-inning rally with a single in the Giants’ 9-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday at San Francisco.

Dustan Mohr doubled in the tying run in the eighth and Deivi Cruz hit a two-run single two batters later as the Giants came back from a 7-1 deficit to beat the Diamondbacks for the seventh time in a row.

The Giants pulled within a half-game of the idle Chicago Cubs in the wild-card race. They also moved to within 4 1/2 games of the Dodgers in the West Division.

Grissom’s grand slam came on a 3-2 pitch in the sixth, one of five straight hits off Arizona starter Stephen Randolph. The 37-year-old Grissom fouled the first pitch off his left ankle and went to the ground in pain. After trainer Stan Conte checked on him, Grissom walked it off and got back in the batter’s box.

“I tried to block it out the best I could,” Grissom said. “I didn’t want to come out of the game. We’re in a crucial situation where we need to win games.”

Atlanta 9, Montreal 0 -- Russ Ortiz pitched a three-hit shutout and Andruw Jones hit a grand slam at Montreal to help the Braves win their fifth in a row. Ortiz (14-7) retired the first 15 batters before Einar Diaz lined a clean single to right-center to lead off the sixth.

Houston 6, Pittsburgh 5 -- Mike Lamb hit a go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Astros extended their season-high winning streak to eight games. The Astros have won 10 of their last 12 games and 16 of 19 to move two games behind Chicago in the wild-card race.

Philadelphia 7, New York 0 -- Cory Lidle (9-12) threw a three-hitter for his second straight shutout and drove in three runs with a double to help the host Phillies extend the Mets’ losing streak to eight.

Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 3 -- At Milwaukee, Russell Branyan and Keith Ginter each hit three-run homers, rookie Ben Hendrickson earned his first major league victory, and the Brewers sent the Reds to their fifth loss in a row. Hendrickson (1-6) pitched six solid innings to avoid being the first pitcher in 25 years to lose his first seven major league games.

Colorado 8, San Diego 2 -- Shawn Estes pitched seven solid innings and had two hits, and J.D. Closser hit his first major league home run for the Rockies at San Diego.

Estes (14-6), who gave up two runs and four hits, matched the single-season team record for wins by a left-hander, first set by Mike Hampton in 2001. He also singled in the fifth, tripled in the sixth and scored two runs.

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The Florida Marlins postponed today’s game against the Chicago Cubs as Hurricane Frances moved ashore on Florida’s east coast. The Category 2 hurricane already had forced the first two games of the three-game series to be postponed. The series was not immediately rescheduled.