Sports

NL: Phillie ace has another good start

Associated Press
Published April 22, 2005

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PHILADELPHIA - With one swing, Jim Thome unloaded some stress. With another effective outing, Jon Lieber again looked like the Phillies' ace.

Thome hit his first homer to back Lieber, who became the majors' first four-game winner in a 6-3 victory over the Rockies on Thursday.

Lieber, who signed a $21-million, three-year deal in December, didn't walk a batter for the second straight start, and 57 of his 98 pitches were strikes.

He is the first Phillie to win his first four starts since Dennis Cook in 1990 and has pitched at least eight innings in his past three starts.

Lieber got some help from his defense to avoid a big second. With Colorado up 1-0 and runners on second and third, Aaron Miles hit a shallow fly to left. Todd Greene tagged but was thrown out at the plate by Pat Burrell.

Down 3-0, the Phillies took the lead in the fourth. Burrell walked to lead off, and Thome, who hit 89 homers his first two seasons with the Phillies, ended his longest home run drought to start a season at 53 at-bats with an opposite-field shot.

Joe Kennedy then walked Jason Michaels and gave up Todd Pratt's first homer of the year.

BRAVES 2, NATIONALS 1: Shortstop Cristian Guzman's two-run throwing error on Raul Mondesi's bases-loaded grounder with two outs in the ninth lifted visiting Atlanta. It was the Washington bullpen's first loss of the season after starting 5-0.

Jose Guillen, who entered 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, singled with two outs in the fourth to score Brad Wilkerson, who led off with a ground-rule double.

The Nationals' Chad Cordero started the ninth by giving up singles to Marcus Giles and Johnny Estrada and a walk to Chipper Jones. He struck out Brian Jordan and Adam LaRoche and appeared to escape when Mondesi rolled a 2-and-0 pitch toward Guzman. But with the infield covered with puddles from a 2:40 rain delay, his throw sailed past first baseman Nick Johnson and into the dugout.

ASTROS 8, BREWERS 7: Andy Pettitte earned his first win since July21 for host Houston. Pettitte, who had season-ending elbow surgery Aug.13, allowed five hits and three runs in seven innings.

The Astros scored four in the sixth to go up 6-1. Chris Burke had a run-scoring double, Brad Ausmus a run-scoring single and Willy Taveras a run-scoring triple that chased starter Doug Davis. Pettitte added a sacrifice fly off reliever Wes Obermueller.

Down 8-3 in the ninth, the Brewers scored four, capped by Brady Clark's three-run homer off closer Brad Lidge with two outs. But Lidge, who entered to face Clark, struck out Junior Spivey.

METS 10, MARLINS 1: Doug Mientkiewicz hit his first grand slam for visiting New York. Pedro Martinez allowed three hits and retired 13 in a row during one stretch to end Florida's four-game win streak and beat Al Leiter for the second time in six days. Florida had not given up more than four runs this season, and its ERA rose from 1.88 to 2.38, still the best in the majors.

The Mets scored seven in the second. Cliff Floyd and David Wright walked, and Ramon Castro reached on a bunt when Carlos Delgado charged to field the ball and left first base uncovered. Mientkiewicz then pulled a 2-and-2 pitch for a 4-1 lead. Floyd capped the scoring with a broken-bat single.

PIRATES 4, REDS 2: Jason Bay, last year's rookie of the year, hit his first homer of the season and drove in two runs for visiting Pittsburgh. Kip Wells, pitching on his 28th birthday, won for the first time in six starts, since Aug.7. He improved to 3-0 on his birthday and avoided his first 0-4 start.

Bay, who hit 26 homers last year, finished a triple short of the cycle. Down 1-0 in the third with a runner on first, he doubled off the rightfield wall. Craig Wilson hit a run-scoring single and Ty Wigginton a run-scoring grounder. Bay's homer in the fifth, his first since Sept.29, made it 3-1.

CARDINALS 4, CUBS 0: Scott Rolen homered, doubled and had three RBIs for St. Louis, which is 32-10 at home against Chicago during the past six seasons. Rolen, the cleanup hitter most of the season, was moved down to fifth for only the second time, and he raised his average from .204 to .228.

Larry Walker's homer in the eighth made it 2-0. Albert Pujols followed with a double, and one out later, Rolen's homer made it 4-0.

f,8.5,ux0 PADRES 6, DODGERS 1: f,10,on0 Ryan Klesko broke out of a slump with three hits and two RBIs, and the San Diego Padres snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers' eight-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory Thursday night. Adam Eaton (2-1) pitched into the sixth inning and allowed a run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts to help the Padres end a four-game losing skid to the Dodgers.

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 01:38:02]

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