John Boles' second team meeting as manager of the Florida Marlins will likely include rundown plays.
Boles won in his major-league debut, the first baseball game he's managed in 10 seasons, as the Marlins defeated the Atlanta Braves 9-8 Thursday night.Boles, who replaced the fired Rene Lachemann on Monday, last managed at Triple-A Omaha in 1986.
"This was fun," Boles said. "We got some breaks and the guys hustled. "We had an hour meeting before the game and I stressed that there was a lot of baseball to be played. I expect our offense to come around and if our pitching holds up, we could make a move on Montreal."
Greg Colbrunn had three RBIs, and Gary Sheffield, Jeff Conine and Devon White all had three hits for the Marlins, the only NL East team with a winning record against the Braves (4-3) this season.
Fred McGriff and Mark Whiten drove in three runs each for Atlanta.
John Burkett (6-8) won for the first time since June 24. He allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings.
Pirates 5, Reds 3
Orlando Merced and Al Martin had three hits apiece and Jeff King stole home off John Smiley (8-8) as Pittsburgh won its fifth straight at Riverfront Stadium.
The Pirates took a 4-0 lead into the seventh, when Denny Neagle (10-4), who was working on a two-hitter, gave up four hits, including run-scoring singles by Oliver and Thomas Howard.
Mets 8, Astros 2
At New York, Mark Clark won his fifth straight decision and drove in two runs, and rookie Alex Ochoa had two RBIs as the Mets won for the fifth time in six games.
Ochoa went 3-for-4 as the Mets improved to 10-6 since his recall from the minors June 21. The right fielder is batting .355 with 17 RBIs in 16 games.
Butch Huskey and Bernard Gilkey also had three hits for New York.
Phillies 3, Expos 2
Curt Schilling won his first game in six weeks and Todd Zeile homered as Philadelphia ended a club-record 14-game road losing streak.
Schilling (3-3) allowed three hits in seven innings to win for the first time since May 25.
Ricky Bottalico, who entered with two outs and the tying run at second, got four outs for his 21st save.
Cubs 6, Cardinals 0
At Chicago, Ryne Sandberg's three-run homer, his 15th, highlighted a four-run first inning, and Jaime Navarro pitched a five-hitter.
Navarro (7-8) pitched his fourth complete game in 20 starts and his first shutout.
Rockies 8, Padres 5
Dante Bichette hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 10th after Colorado tied it with a three-run ninth.
Walt Weiss led off the 10th with a single, and one out later, Eric Young was hit by San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman (5-3). After Ellis Burks popped out, Bichette hit his 18th home run.
Bichette had four hits and drove in five runs, and Bruce Ruffin (4-3) pitched two shutout innings.
Dodgers 8, Giants 3
Eric Karros and Mike Blowers had three hits apiece, including RBI singles during a six-run first as San Francisco lost its sixth straight.
Ramon Martinez (7-3) limited the Giants to a bloop single in his final 72/3 innings.