Snow Powers Giants Past the Reds, 9-1

The method wasn’t important to J.T. Snow, only the outcome.

Snow hit two homers and drove in five runs, powering the San Francisco Giants to a 9-1 victory over the Reds on Monday night at Cincinnati.

The Giants moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the idle Dodgers in the National League West, their biggest margin in eight days. San Francisco has been in first place since May 11, leading by as many as six games as recently as July 6.

That meant more to Snow than a big night.

“Wins, wins. That’s what’s important--winning series,” Snow said.

San Francisco won three of four in its first series since trading with the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Danny Darwin, Wilson Alvarez and Roberto Hernandez. Alvarez and Hernandez got two of the three victories against Cincinnati, which has lost 12 of 16 games.

The last five days have provided an emotional turnaround for the Giants, who came out of the All-Star break struggling. After losing the second game of the series, the Giants won two in a row for only the second time since the break. San Francisco is 11-14 since the All-Star game.

“That [trade] picked up a lot of guys,” Snow said. “We’re in a position that doesn’t come around a lot this late in the season. I think that gave a lot of guys confidence and a shot in the arm that, hey, we’ve got the horses now, we can make a run at this.”

Snow hit the two homers, Brian Johnson homered and drove in two runs and Kirk Rueter beat the Reds again. Rueter (8-5) gave up one run on seven hits over seven innings to improve to 4-0 in six lifetime starts against the Reds.

Johnson had a solo homer, his fifth, and an RBI single as the Giants pulled to a 4-1 lead against Giovanni Carrara (0-1), who was called up to fill out a rotation thinned by injuries.

Philadelphia 7, Colorado 3--Tyler Green pitched seven solid innings for his second consecutive victory and Scott Rolen hit a two-run homer to lead the Phillies at Philadelphia.

Green (2-1) missed all of last season because of a shoulder injury and returned to the Phillies on July 13 after completing his rehabilitation at triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. Green gave up three hits in seven innings, including Vinny Castilla’s three-run homer, and struck out seven and walked four.

The Phillies have won six of their last seven games but still have the major league’s worst record at 36-73.

Rolen homered with two outs in the fifth inning off Frank Castillo (8-10), giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Rolen, who also doubled and scored in the second, has an 11-game hitting streak.

Castillo lost his first game since coming to the Rockies in a July 15 trade with the Chicago Cubs. He gave up five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Florida 4, Houston 1--Rookie Livan Hernandez won his sixth consecutive game, pitching 7 1/3 strong innings, and Bobby Bonilla drove in three runs with a homer and single as the Marlins won at Miami.

The Marlins ended Houston’s seven-game road winning streak.

Hernandez (6-0) became the first pitcher in the Marlins’ five-year history to win his first six decisions. He gave up four hits and struck out four before Jay Powell pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his second save.

With the Marlins ahead, 2-1, in the sixth inning, Bonilla hit a two-out, two-run homer--his 12th--over the right-field wall.

Astro rookie Chris Holt (7-8) was the loser.

Atlanta 6, Pittsburgh 0--Andruw Jones returned from his first day off in 1 1/2 months and hit a two-run homer, backing John Smoltz’s second shutout of the season as the Braves won at Pittsburgh.

Smoltz (10-9), who pitched a four-hitter, has limited the Pirates to nine hits and two runs over 16 innings while beating them twice. He is 5-1 against them since the beginning of last season, but is only 9-9 lifetime, not counting his 4-0 record in the 1991 and 1992 playoffs.

Pirate starter Steve Cooke (8-11) held Atlanta to one run and three hits until the sixth inning, when he failed to retire any of the five batters he faced.

New York 4, St. Louis 2--Lance Johnson hit two RBI triples and Rick Reed won his fourth consecutive start, leading the Mets at New York.

Johnson went three for four and Reed doubled and scored as the Mets opened an eight-game homestand. Mark McGwire was hitless in four at-bats, dropping him to one for 13 since joining St. Louis, as the Cardinals lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Reed (10-4) is 6-0 in nine starts since losing to Boston on June 13. He gave up two runs and four hits in six innings, and did not return after a rain delay with the Mets ahead, 4-2.

John Franco pitched the ninth inning for his 29th save. Cardinal starter Manny Aybar (0-1) made his major league debut.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result J.T. Snow San Francisco 2 for 3, 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 3 runs Win Bobby Bonilla Florida 2 for 4, homer, 3 RBIs Win Andruw Jones Atlanta 2 for 3, homer, 2 RBIs, 2 runs Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result John Smoltz Atlanta 9 innings, 4 hits, 9 strikeouts Win Livan Hernandez Florida 7 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 6th consecutive victory Win Tyler Green Philadelphia 7 innings, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts Win

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