NL: Lowell hits 3 HRs as Marlins continue to dominate Phils
By Associated Press
Published April 22, 2004
PHILADELPHIA - Mike Lowell homered three times and Luis Castillo hit a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning to send the Marlins to their eighth straight victory over the Phillies, 8-7 Wednesday night.
Lowell led off the ninth with a tying shot off All-Star closer Billy Wagner, who blew his first save with the Phillies. The Florida third baseman also homered off Eric Milton in the second and had a two-run drive off Tim Worrell in the seventh, becoming the first in team history to connect three times in one game.
It was the first three-homer game in the majors this season.
"I didn't get caught up in the at-bats because we were trying to come back," Lowell said. "It was a career day. I did it in tee ball and once in college (at Florida International) my sophomore year."
With a chance to hit his fourth homer and tie a major-league record, Lowell popped out to third in the 11th against Ryan Madson. Lowell came in with one homer in the first 13 games.
Pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee's two-run homer in the eighth inning off Chad Fox gave Philadelphia a 7-6 lead. Jim Thome also connected for the Phillies.
The World Series champion Marlins have won 17 of their past 19 against the Phillies, who blew a slim wild-card lead over Florida down the stretch last season.
Juan Pierre walked with one out in the 12th against Madson (0-1). Pierre stole second and went to third on an errant throw by catcher Mike Lieberthal, despite a pitchout. Castillo then lofted a medium fly to left, and Pat Burrell's throw to the plate hit Pierre.
Bonds' HR streak ends at seven games
SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds failed to homer in his eighth straight game, an 11-0 loss to the Padres, leaving him one shy of matching the major-league mark.
He struck out and was walked twice on four pitches, leaving him one short of the record for consecutive games with a home run - shared by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993).
He was replaced in leftfield by Dustan Mohr in the eighth.
BRAVES 9, REDS 5 (10): Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal homered in the 10th to rally visiting Atlanta. Marcus Giles tied it with a two-out single in the ninth, and Jones and Furcal provided the final disappointment for the Reds, who blew three leads in the late innings. Jones led off the 10th against Brian Reith (0-1) with his second homer, and Furcal added a three-run shot off Phil Norton. John Smoltz got the last three outs.
CARDINALS 12, ASTROS 6: Jim Edmonds hit a grand slam for one of the five home runs for visiting St. Louis. Reggie Sanders hit a three-run homer, Scott Rolen had a two-run shot, and Ray Lankford and Marlon Anderson added homers for the Cardinals, who beat the Astros for only the fourth time in 12 games. Rolen and Edgar Renteria each had three of the Cardinals' 16 hits.
EXPOS 2, METS 1: Livan Hernandez pitched into the eighth for visiting Montreal. The Expos scored twice in the fifth against Tom Glavine (2-1), helped by an error by Gold Glove centerfielder Mike Cameron. Montreal again failed to score more than four. The last team to not top four runs in any of its first 15 games was the 1988 Rangers, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The Mets, meanwhile, have scored just one in four of their past five. New York twice had runners thrown out at the plate in the loss.
CUBS 12, PIRATES 1: Corey Patterson had five hits and visiting Chicago scored eight in the first. Sergio Mitre pitched six shutout innings for his first major-league win and the Cubs had another big night on offense. Patterson went 5-for-6 and Moises Alou and Derrek Lee had three RBIs each.
The Cubs have won six of eight - four straight against the Pirates - while averaging 8.2 runs in their past 10 games. Mitre (1-0), ahead 8-0 before throwing a pitch, struck out seven and limited the Pirates to four singles. Josh Fogg (0-3) didn't retire any of the six batters he faced.
BREWERS 10, D'BACKS 6: Scott Podsednik hit a go-ahead triple that chased Randy Johnson during an eight-run seventh and host Milwaukee rallied.
Danny Bautista's three-run homer in the top of the seventh put Arizona ahead 4-2. Keith Ginter opened the bottom half with a double and capped the inning with a two-run homer, sending the Diamondbacks to their fourth straight loss.
Johnson (1-2) dominated for six innings before getting tagged in the seventh. Reliever Ben Ford (1-0) got his first major-league victory despite allowing Bautista's homer on his first pitch.
DODGERS 9, ROCKIES 4: Paul Lo Duca drove in three, and Adrian Beltre homered and had two RBIs for visiting Los Angeles. Lo Duca went 3-for-4 a day after his 11-game hitting streak snapped. Beltre hit his second home run in two games and Dave Roberts went 3-for-3 with three stolen bases and three runs for the Dodgers, who had 13 hits.
