The Atlanta Braves may have the best pitchers in baseball, but the Colorado Rockies are making them look like a bunch of Little Leaguers.
The Rockies roughed up an Atlanta ace for the second straight day, scoring seven runs in the first inning off Tom Glavine and later rallying to beat the Braves 13-12 Saturday.A day after routing Greg Maddux in a 19-8 victory, Colorado broke loose with four home runs and 16 hits. Larry Walker hit two solo shots, Dante Bichette had a three-run blast and Walt Weiss also connected.
"If you told me they would give up 20 runs against Maddux and Glavine and win, I'd think you were crazy," Bichette said.
Not since April 25-26, 1977, had the Braves allowed a total of 32 runs in two games. Back then, when Cincinnati scored 23 runs on one day and nine the next, the Braves had the likes of Buzz Capra and were the worst team in the league.
These days, led by Cy Young winners Maddux and Glavine, they're the defending World Series champions.
"Colorado was supposed to be coming off as bad road trip, but you'd have a hard time convincing me of that," Glavine said.
The Rockies overcame a 12-11 deficit with two runs in the eighth, going ahead on Weiss' bases-loaded walk from Mark Wohlers.
"We didn't hold them," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "You can't catch walks."
Glavine was tagged for nine runs, seven of them earned, and 12 hits in five innings. The total runs and earned runs matched career highs for Glavine.
Giants 4, Cardinals 1
At San Francisco, Stan Javier's two-out, bases-loaded double broke an eighth inning tie and give the San Francisco Giants a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Rich DeLucia (2-1) pitched one inning of relief to get the win. Rod Beck pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Ray Lankford's home run to lead off the second, his 12th of the season, put the Cardinals up 1-0. The Giants tied it in their half of the second.
Astros 7, Phillies 3
At Houston, Craig Biggio hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in a four-run seventh inning and Billy Wagner got his first major league victory as the Houston Astros beat Philadelphia.
The Astros managed only three hits against Curt Schilling over six innings but tagged Russ Springer (1-5), who replaced Schilling to start the seventh with the score tied 3-3.
Pinchhitter John Cangelosi reached on Springer's throwing error to start the inning and Brian Hunter singled before Biggio hit his sixth homer over the left field fence. Derrick May's double scored Houston's fourth run of the inning.
Mets 7, Marlins 6
At New York, Jeff Kent went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs, and the New York Mets held off Florida for their first win in five games against the Marlins this season.
The Mets led 7-1 after seven innings, but Jeff Conine and Greg Colbrunn hit RBI doubles in the Marlins eighth.
Doug Henry retired the first two batters in the ninth before Florida loaded the bases on a single by pinch-hitter Alex Arias, a walk to Devon White and an infield hit by Edgar Renteria.
John Franco relieved, and Conine hit a two-run single that made it 7-5. Gary Sheffield followed with an RBI single that pulled the Marlins within a run and put runners at first and second.
Cubs 6, Expos 4
At Chicago, Brian McRae doubled three times leading off innings and scored each time as the Chicago Cubs found their bearings in the fog and beat the Montreal Expos.
Mark Grace drove in three runs and Amaury Telemaco pitched into the seventh inning at eerie-like Wrigley Field, where some lettering on the scoreboard was nearly unreadable by the sixth inning because of the fog.
Dodgers 5, Reds 4, 10 innings
At Los Angeles, the Dodgers, boosted by a surprise visit from Brett Butler before the game, beat the Cincinnati Reds on Delino DeShields' RBI single in the 10th inning.
Butler, who underwent cancer surgery on his throat two weeks ago, popped into the Dodgers clubhouse about 45 minutes prior to the first pitch. The popular center fielder had been in Mexico for a day, looking at alternative medicine, and did not tell his teammates he was coming to see them.