Eckstein’s Grand Slam Lifts St. Louis

David Eckstein won two games with squeeze bunts in July. On Sunday, he shocked the Atlanta Braves with the long ball.

The 5-foot-7 St. Louis Cardinal leadoff hitter hit a grand slam off Chris Reitsma with one out in the ninth inning for a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday at St. Louis. It was the fourth grand slam of his career and his second game-winning slam.

It came on a 1-and-0 pitch from Reitsma (3-3), who had entered the game with nine consecutive saves.

“Once in a while,” Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa said, “you get a miracle.”

It helped the Cardinals take two of three in a series matching the teams with the two best records in the NL.

Ray King (3-2) got the last out in the top of the ninth to get the victory in relief of St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter, who gave up two runs in eight innings and struck out 10.

It was Eckstein’s first game-winning slam since he connected off Toronto’s Pedro Borbon on April 28, 2002, with his second grand slam in two days when he was playing for the Angels.

Eckstein said that winning a game with a big-time blast wasn’t preferential to a squeeze.

“There’s something about the squeeze play,” he said. “It’s do or die.”

Houston 8, San Francisco 1 -- Roger Clemens won his fourth consecutive start with another strong road performance. Clemens (11-4) earned his 339th win and lowered the majors’ lowest earned-run average to 1.38 with seven innings in his first appearance in San Francisco.

Houston’s 43-year-old right-hander gave up an unearned run in the first but didn’t let another runner reach third base while improving to 7-1 in his last 11 starts.

The seven-time Cy Young award winner gave up six hits and two walks while striking out four. He has allowed three earned runs in 73 innings on the road this season for a 0.38 ERA.

Before the game, the Giants put left-hander Kirk Rueter on the 15-day disabled list because of gout in his right big toe and purchased the contract of right-hander Brian Cooper from triple-A Fresno.

San Diego 3, Washington 0 -- Padre starter Jake Peavy limited the Nationals to five hits and delivered a run-scoring single to help complete a three-game series sweep at Washington.

The Nationals have lost eight of their last nine series and are 6-17 since the All-Star break. The NL West-leading Padres, who got solo homers from Eric Young and Xavier Nady, have won four consecutive and five of their last six.

Arizona 9, Colorado 4 -- Luis Gonzalez homered and drove in four runs and the Diamondbacks avoided a three-game sweep at Phoenix.

Chad Tracy, Tony Clark and Troy Glaus also homered for the Diamondbacks, who remained three games behind San Diego in the West. Craig Counsell was five for five with three runs scored.

Milwaukee 2, Philadelphia 0 -- Tomo Ohka pitched four-hit ball for eight innings and Rickie Weeks drove in both runs at Philadelphia.

Florida 2, Cincinnati 0 -- Dontrelle Willis gave up four hits in eight innings at Cincinnati to earn his career-high 15th win.

New York 6, Chicago 1 -- Victor Zambrano pitched eight innings, David Wright drove in three runs and the Mets finished a three-game sweep at New York. Cub starter Carlos Zambrano exited after three innings because of a back injury.