Bobby Estalella gave Montreal ace Pedro Martinez fits, and that made things even more difficult for the Philadelphia brass.
The 23-year-old catcher gave the Phillies added reason to protect him in the expansion draft, hitting three homers - two off Martinez - in Philadelphia's 6-4 victory over the Expos on Thursday night."I've never done that at any level, Legion ball, high school," said Estalella, recalled from the minors Tuesday. "I've hit two before, I can't count how many times. I never thought I'd do it here."
Estalella, who appeared in two games earlier this season, hit a solo homer in the second and a two-run shot in the sixth. He added a solo shot off Anthony Telford in the ninth to become the first rookie in Phillies history to homer three times in a game.
"It's one of the best days I've had in baseball, no doubt," said Estalella, who hit two homers in seven games last season with Philadelphia and had 16 this season for Scranton in the International League.
He is the first rookie to hit three homers in a game since Mickey Brantley did it for Seattle against Cleveland on Sept. 14, 1987.
"That's as impressive as you can get," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "I mean, we were laughing in the dugout. It's not supposed to happen that way. . . . I hit 16 homers in my career, three was the most in any one year. He did it in an hour and a half. And look who he did it against."
Martinez (16-7) allowed seven hits and five earned runs in eight innings, pushing his major league-leading ERA from 1.63 to 1.78.
Astros 14, Giants 2
Craig Biggio homered on the game's first pitch and Mike Hampton pitched seven strong innings as Houston routed San Francisco.
The Astros extended their lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central to 31/2 games. The Giants fell two games behind NL West-leading Los Angeles.
Braves 8, Padres 7
Jeff Blauser went 4-for-5 and hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning as Atlanta won at San Diego to open a three-game lead over second-place Florida in the NL East.
Tony Gwynn drove in four runs to raise his career-best RBI total to 110, hitting a three-run homer. Hitless in eight at-bats coming in, Gwynn went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .373.
Reds 5, Pirates 2
At Cincinnati, Joe Oliver, Willie Greene and Jon Nunnally homered off Jon Lieber (9-3) as the Reds overpowered Pittsburgh.
Shawon Dunston hit a two-run homer, his third since coming to Pittsburgh in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, but the Pirates wasted three other scoring threats in six innings by Mike Morgan (5-12).
American League
Orioles 5, Yankees 2
Rick Krivda pitched six effective innings before Baltimore's bullpen took over, and the visiting Orioles remained perfect against New York this year with a victory that increased their AL East edge over New York to 71/2 games.
Jeffrey Hammonds hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh and a solo homer in the ninth as the Orioles, 5-0 against the Yankees, ended a five-game losing streak. New York has lost four in a row and seven of eight, but still leads Anaheim by six games for the wild-card spot.
Tigers 5, Angels 4
At Detroit, Tony Clark hit a game-tying three-run homer in the eighth inning and Bobby Higginson singled in the winning run in the 11th as the Tigers beat Anaheim for their fifth victory in seven games.
Rangers 6, Blue Jays 2
At Toronto, Rick Helling struck out a career-high 12 in 81/3 innings as Texas sent Toronto to its seventh straight loss.
Helling (2-1) allowed seven hits and walked one in sending Toronto to its longest losing streak since a eight-gamer in 1995. Benito Santiago chased Helling with a ninth-inning homer, and Scott Bailes finished up.
Rusty Greer drove in three runs and Tom Goodwin went 3-for-4 with four runs scored as Texas won its third consecutive game.
Royals 7, Athletics 6
Felix Martinez, making his first major league start, singled off the leg of pitcher Don Wengert to drive in the winning run in the 12th as Kansas City beat visiting Oakland.
Gregg Olson (2-2) pitched the 12th for the victory in the matchup of last-place teams.