Baseball

D'backs end Gagne's save streak

LOS ANGELES - Eric Gagne's streak of 84 saves ended against the same team he couldn't hold off two years ago: the Diamondbacks.

Gagne's major league-record streak ended Monday night when he blew a two-run lead for the Dodgers, who came back to beat Arizona 6-5 in 10 innings.

Gagne relieved with a 5-3 lead at the start of the ninth but allowed pinch-hitter Luis Gonzalez's run-scoring double and Chad Tracy's run-scoring single on an 0-and-2 pitch that went past the glove of diving first baseman Olmedo Saenz. Both hits came off changeups.

"I never really thought about the streak at all," Gagne said. "I'm not really relieved about it, but it was so much fun to be a part of it."

Realizing that Gagne's streak was over, the crowd of 32,929 at Dodger Stadium gave him a standing ovation as he stood on the mound with his head down.

"The fans are so proud of what I've been doing," he said. "They come out every single game and they're really into it, so I just tried to give back to them because they've been really good to me. The fans are the reason why I've been able to go four or five days in a row. They get me up."

Gagne retired the next two and got another standing ovation on his way to the dugout before taking a curtain call to wilder cheers.

"I've got a job to do tomorrow. You can't worry about today," Gagne said. "You've got to start all over every day."

Dave Roberts singled in the 10th off Greg Aquino, making his second big-league appearance. Cesar Izturis sacrificed, Milton Bradley was intentionally walked and Adrian Beltre walked, loading the bases.

Randy Choate relieved and gave up Shawn Green's sacrifice fly.

PIRATES 3, MARLINS 1: World Series MVP Josh Beckett went back on the disabled list after leaving his start against Pittsburgh early for host Florida.

Beckett, who hadn't started since June 17 because of a lower back strain, was pulled after four innings with a blister. He allowed two earned runs on five hits in his 73-pitch outing.

Beckett came off the DL only to promptly return for the second time. He was making his second start since May 30, a day before he went on the disabled list with a blister on his right middle finger.

Kip Wells pitched eight shutout innings for the Pirates' 10th straight win.

BREWERS 1, CUBS 0: Light-hitting Craig Counsell provided the only offense in a topsy-turvy game in which Milwaukee was thrilled to quiet a big, boisterous home crowd behind its All-Star pitching tandem of Ben Sheets and Dan Kolb.

Counsell's rare homer helped Sheets outduel Matt Clement before a pro-Cubs crowd of 45,016, second largest in Miller Park history.

"It was a great atmosphere. Any time you fill the stadium it's going to be fun," Counsell said.

Sheets struck out 12 in seven innings and the Brewers, who struck out 17 Cubs in all, stopped a season-high four-game skid and ended Chicago's four-game winning streak.

PHILLIES 6, METS 5: Pat Burrell had two hits and two RBIs, helping host Philadelphia beat Tom Glavine. Ryan Madson pitched two scoreless innings in relief of an ineffective Paul Abbott, the former Devil Rays pitcher, as the East-leading Phillies improved to a season-best seven games over .500 (44-37).

CARDINALS 4, REDS 1: Chris Carpenter struck out eight and walked none in seven-plus innings for host St. Louis. Carpenter allowed one run and five hits, including a run-scoring single in the sixth to Barry Larkin. Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen drove in two each and Albert Pujols had three hits.

PADRES 2, ASTROS 1: Ryan Klesko singled in the go-ahead run with one out in the eighth and Brian Lawrence outlasted Roger Clemens to lead host San Diego. Klesko singled to right off Dan Miceli to bring in Sean Burroughs from second and break a tie.

BRAVES 11, EXPOS 4: Andruw Jones hit a three-run homer in a six-run first and Chipper Jones had four RBIs, leading visiting Atlanta in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ROCKIES 7, GIANTS 4: Jeromy Burnitz hit a two-run double and Colorado stretched a winning streak to four for the first time this season.

[Last modified July 6, 2004, 01:00:19]