NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Giant Feats: Beck Sets Record, Burkett Wins 16th

John Burkett became the first 16-game winner in the National League and Rod Beck set an NL record with his 24th consecutive save, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies, 6-5, Sunday for a sweep of their weekend series at Denver.

“Burkett threw the ball well and made some good pitches,” said Giant Manager Dusty Baker. “We got a lot of help from (the Rockies). When you make five errors against us, it’s hard to beat us.”

Still, the Rockies almost did, rallying from a 6-0 deficit to get within one run.

Burkett (16-4) lost his shutout in the seventh when Charlie Hayes doubled and scored on Jerald Clark’s triple with no outs. But the Rockies stranded Clark at third.

Beck, the third San Francisco pitcher, got the last three outs, also setting a club record with his 31st save.

“He’s only blown two save opportunities, and you can’t get much better than that,” Baker said.

New York’s John Franco (1988) and Cincinnati’s Rob Dibble (1991) had the league record with 23 consecutive saves.

Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley owns the major league mark of 36 in a row, set last year.

Colorado set another major league attendance record, bettering its own mark for a three-game series. With 72,431 on Sunday, the Rockies drew 216,349 for the series.

San Diego 3, Cincinnati 1--Tim Teufel and Tony Gwynn--two of Tom Browning’s toughest outs--homered to power the Padres over the Reds at Cincinnati.

Browning was making his first start since his arrest last week in northern Kentucky on charges of marijuana possession. He was released on his own recognizance.

Andy Benes (12-7) gave up four hits in seven innings, walking four and striking out five.

New York 10, St. Louis 3--Eddie Murray had a two-run homer and a tiebreaking double during a five-run eighth inning, and the Mets got a strong performance from Dwight Gooden at St. Louis.

Gooden (11-10) won his third consecutive start, working seven innings and giving up two runs on six hits. He struck out three, passing Jerry Koosman for second place on the Mets’ career list with 1,800.

Murray hit his 16th homer--the 430th of his career--in the sixth, and got the game winner in the eighth.

Atlanta 3, Houston 2--John Smoltz pitched well and David Justice homered to lead the Braves at Houston for their ninth victory in 10 games and a sweep of the weekend series.

Smoltz (10-8) gave up two runs on seven hits and one walk, while striking out six in eight innings. Greg McMichael got the final three outs for his third save.

Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the second when Justice reached Greg Swindell (6-9) for his 25th homer.

Philadelphia 5, Pittsburgh 4--Todd Pratt had two homers among three hits and three runs batted in to lead the Phillies at Philadelphia in a game twice interrupted by bench-clearing incidents.

No punches were thrown during the incidents, the first of which led to the ejection of Philadelphia Manager Jim Fregosi.

With one out in the sixth inning, Pratt homered against Steve Cooke (5-7) to break a 3-3 tie.

Florida 5, Montreal 4--Darrell Whitmore singled home the tying run in the sixth inning, and led off the ninth with a double and scored on Chuck Carr’s bunt hit to lead the Marlins at Montreal.

Matt Turner (2-3) got one out in the eighth to pick up the win. Bryan Harvey got the final three outs for his 31st save.