NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Harnisch, Gonzalez Lead Astros’ Sweep of Cubs
Pete Harnisch pitched his first one-hitter in the opener and Luis Gonzalez drove in six runs, including two homers, in Saturday’s doubleheader at Chicago, as the Houston Astros swept the Cubs, 4-0 and 5-2.
Gonzalez drove in four runs in the first game and hit a two-run homer in the second.
Mark Grace got Chicago’s only hit against Harnisch, lining a single to center with two out in the seventh.
“(The count) was 2-0, and I didn’t want to throw a fastball,” Harnisch said. “I threw a change-up and he got enough of the bat on it. When he got to first, I looked over and he kind of shrugged.”
Harnisch (8-6) struck out 10, matching his season high, and walked three in his second complete game in 19 starts and first shutout this year. His previous best was a two-hitter against Pittsburgh on May 3, 1991. Mike Harkey (6-3) gave up four runs and six hits in six innings.
St. Louis 9, Colorado 3--Brian Jordan went four for four with a two-run home run and Mark Whiten added a three-run homer to lead the Cardinals at St. Louis.
Donovan Osborne (8-3) gave up four hits in seven innings in winning his fifth consecutive decision. He struck out a season-high eight and walked two. Omar Olivares pitched the final two innings.
The Cardinals, who have won five of their last six games, ended Colorado’s longest victory streak at four.
Montreal 3, San Diego 2--Moises Alou walked with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning to complete a two-run rally at Montreal.
Delino DeShields led off the ninth with a single against Gene Harris (4-2) and was bunted to second by Mike Lansing. DeShields moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Marquis Grissom’s single.
Grissom stole second and Larry Walker was walked intentionally. On the first pitch to Darrin Fletcher, the runners advanced on a double steal. Fletcher was walked intentionally to load the bases, and Harris walked Alou on a 3-1 pitch to score Grissom.
Philadelphia 8, San Francisco 3--The struggling Phillies got a much-needed lift from an unexpected source at Philadelphia.
Mickey Morandini drove in a career-high five runs with a go-ahead single and a grand slam as the Phillies defeated the Giants after losing the first two games of the series in lopsided scores.
The Giants won, 13-2, on Thursday and, 15-8, on Friday in the meeting of first-place teams.
Morandini put the Phillies ahead, 4-3, in the sixth with a run-scoring single that knocked out John Burkett (13-3), the National League leader in victories. Philadelphia loaded the bases in the eighth on a pair of singles and a walk and Morandini hit his first grand slam, a drive against left-hander Dave Righetti.
Burkett gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He had won his five previous starts and six of seven.
Florida 5, Atlanta 2--Alex Arias drove in three runs and the Marlins ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Braves and All-Star Tom Glavine at Miami.
Arias had a run-scoring ingle in the fourth, when Florida scored twice to take a 3-2 lead. He added a two-out, two-run single in the eighth against Greg McMichael.
All-Star reliever Bryan Harvey earned his 25th save.
The Braves left seven runners in scoring position. Ron Gant made the final out in the first, third and fifth, leaving a runner in scoring position each time.
Cincinnati 10, Pittsburgh 7--Joe Oliver and Gary Varsho each hit two-run homers as the visiting Reds spotted Pittsburgh a five-run lead in the second inning, then rallied against Randy Tomlin and the Pirates’ bullpen.
Chris Sabo, who went three for four to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, doubled in the tying run in the seventh against Paul Wagner (4-6) ahead of Oliver’s eighth homer. Oliver was three for four with an RBI single in the ninth and is hitting .459 with three homers and 10 RBIs against Pittsburgh.
The Pirates led, 4-0 and 7-2, against Tim Belcher, who had beaten them twice earlier this season and was 10-4 against them lifetime. But Belcher and two relievers combined to shut out Pittsburgh after that, with Scott Service (1-0) pitching three hitless innings for his first major league victory.
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