Hernandez Extends His Home Streak

Livan Hernandez loves to pitch at Pacific Bell Park.

Hernandez threw eight strong innings Sunday to win his seventh consecutive decision at home as the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2.

“It was good to come back home and be able to pitch a good game,” Hernandez said. “The wind was blowing into the plate, so I knew they wouldn’t hit home runs and I was able to throw more fastballs.”

Russ Davis homered and drove in two runs as the Giants improved to 79-56, the best record in the league. They have won five in a row and completed a three-game sweep of the Cubs.

Hernandez (14-10) yielded two runs and three hits in the first inning, but then did not give up a hit after Mark Grace’s two-out single in the third. The right-hander improved to 11-2 with a 2.41 earned-run average at the Giants’ new ballpark.

“The last time out I pitched poorly, so I told myself that’s enough,” said Hernandez, who yielded seven runs in two innings at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. “I had to come back and pitch strong here.”

He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter in adding to his career high for victories in a season. Hernandez retired 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.

Houston 9, Atlanta 3--Mitch Meluskey homered twice and Wade Miller won for the third time in his last four decisions at Houston.

The Braves have lost five of seven and eight of 11, but still hold a half-game lead in the East over the Mets.

Meluskey led off the fourth with a homer off Andy Ashby (8-12) and hit a two-run shot in the eighth. He has three homers in the last two games.

Miller (4-5) gave up two runs, nine hits and three walks in seven innings. He struck out seven. Ashby (8-12) lost his fourth consecutive decision.

Milwaukee 6, Colorado 4--Mark Loretta drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out, pinch-hit double in the top of the 11th inning for the Brewers.

After tying the game with an unearned run in the ninth, the Brewers took the lead against Mike DeJean (4-3) in the 11th. DeJean walked Lou Collier with two outs and Loretta doubled just beyond the reach of right fielder Jeffrey Hammonds, whose diving attempt came up short.

Todd Helton of the Rockies, slipping in his quest to hit .400, had one hit in four at-bats as his major league-leading average dropped to .390. He went two for 11 in the three-game series.

Pittsburgh 8, San Diego 6--Jason Kendall hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning to give the Pirates a sweep of the three-game series at San Diego.

John Wehner, who joined the Pirates on Friday from triple-A Nashville, hit his third single of the day with one out in the 13th. Kendall followed with a shot over the wall in left-center off Carlos Almanzar (3-4).

Matt Skrmetta (1-0) went 1 1/3 innings to gain the win in his first appearance for the Pirates since joining the club from Nashville.

Arizona 10, Florida 5--Steve Finley hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Diamondbacks snapped their five-game home losing streak.

Finley’s homer came too late to earn a victory for Todd Stottlemyre, who gave up eight hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings in his return to the Diamondbacks after nearly two months away.

Stottlemyre, Arizona’s No. 2 starter behind Randy Johnson, had been on the disabled list since June 26 because of tendinitis in his right elbow.

Cincinnati 8, Montreal 1--Benito Santiago and Sean Casey homered and Alex Ochoa drove in three runs at Cincinnati to help Steve Parris win his fifth consecutive start.

Parris (10-14) gave up nine hits in seven innings and walked two. He has not given up more than two runs since his last loss, 3-2, to the Mets on Aug. 1.