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Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2001
Marlins use homers, pen for victory
MIAMI -- Charles Johnson hit two home runs and Florida's bullpen held the lead in a close game for just the third time this season as the Marlins beat Montreal 5-2 Thursday night.
Johnson hit homers in the second and the sixth before the Marlins pulled ahead for good with a three-run eighth inning.
Antonio Alfonseca pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save. Braden Looper struck out three in two perfect innings for his first win of the season.
Mike Lowell led off the eighth with a single, then moved to second with one out on pinch-hitter Ryan McGuire's base hit. Alex Gonzalez followed with a bloop single to right that Milton Bradley nearly caught while diving.
With a 2-and-2 count on Derrek Lee, Scott Strickland threw a pitch in the dirt that got by catcher Michael Barrett and allowed Lowell to score for a 3-2 lead.
Lee struck out, and Luis Castillo added a two-run single up the middle.
Lee Stevens hit a homer, his fourth, to give the Expos a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
Despite five shaky innings of work, Montreal starter Britt Reames left the game with a 2-1 lead. He walked a career-high seven but worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and stranded three other runners in scoring position.
Reames, who threw 107 pitches, gave up two hits and struck out four. The only run he allowed came on Johnson's home run in the second inning.
But Johnson's second shot, coming on reliever Mike Johnson's first pitch to start the bottom of the sixth, tied the score.
It was Johnson's fifth homer of the season, and it got Matt Clement off the hook. Clement allowed two hits and two runs, one earned, in six innings. He struck out six and walked three.
ROCKIES 4, PADRES 0: Denny Neagle and three relievers combined on a six-hitter and Colorado pitchers earned a second shutout in a row for the team's first three-game sweep in San Diego.
Neagle allowed three hits in six innings, struck out five and walked three for his 100th NL win. He has 107 overall.
Neagle also doubled and scored a run as the Rockies won their fifth in a row. The Padres have lost four in a row.
On Wednesday, Mike Hampton held the Padres to four hits in eight innings in an 8-0 win. Just like Wednesday, the Padres failed to advance a runner past second.
The Rockies' pitching staff lowered its ERA by more than a run this series, from 6.21 to 5.02. The only earned run in 27 innings came in Tuesday's 9-5 win. The Rockies have the best road ERA in the NL at 1.89.
Todd Hollandsworth and light-hitting catcher Ben Petrick hit homers, giving the Rockies six in the series. The Rockies outscored the Padres 21-5. Juan Pierre went 4-for-5, all singles.
Hollandsworth hit his fourth homer in the fourth inning, his 10th RBI in his past four games. Petrick snapped an 0-for-22 slump with a double and homer off Woody Williams (1-2). Petrick hadn't gotten a hit since singling in his first at-bat of the season.
DODGERS 10, GIANTS 1: Eric Gagne kept Barry Bonds from going deep, and the visiting Dodgers handed San Francisco its most-lopsided loss at Pacific Bell Park.
Bonds failed to homer in three at-bats, ending his streak of six consecutive games with a home run. The major league record is eight, shared by Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and Dale Long. Bonds, who played despite a headache, went 1-for-3 with a first-inning single. He was replaced by Shawon Dunston before the seventh inning.