Reds Help Dodgers by Beating Giants

Kent Mercker pitched seven strong innings and three teammates hit solo homers as the visiting Cincinnati Reds defeated the San Francisco Giants, 7-4, Monday night at San Francisco, enabling the Dodgers to move within 1 1/2 games of first place in the National League West.

The victory was the Reds’ third in a row.

Deion Sanders homered on the game’s first pitch, Chris Stynes hit his second major league homer in the second inning, and Joe Oliver hit his 12th of the season in the fifth.

Willie Greene, Bret Boone and Reggie Sanders had RBI singles for the Reds, who scored four runs in the first and two in the second. Oliver added a sacrifice fly.

Mercker (8-8), who took a two-hitter into the seventh, won for the first time in five starts. He gave up three runs on four hits, striking out three and walking three. He was helped by three double plays.

The Giants scored three runs in the seventh on Mark Lewis’ two-run triple and Glenallen Hill’s run-scoring groundout, and added a run in the ninth on Jeff Kent’s leadoff homer off Scott Sullivan. Kent has 23 homers.

Giant starter Pat Rapp (5-7) lasted only 1 2/3 innings, giving up six runs and five hits. Danny Darwin followed with 5 1/3 innings of relief, giving up one run and eight hits.

Atlanta 2, Florida 1--The Braves created some breathing room in the NL East by beating the Marlins when Danny Bautista’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly brought home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth at Atlanta.

The Marlins, who have an 8-4 advantage over the NL champions this year, left Atlanta 5 1/2 games behind the Braves after splitting a four-game series contested in a playoff-like atmosphere at Turner Field.

“This was very big, definitely,” said Ryan Klesko, who scored the winning run. “We don’t want to start battling back and forth with these guys. We wanted to end against the Marlins with a win. We wanted to let them know we could beat them.”

Felix Heredia (4-2) walked Klesko to lead off the ninth, Mark Lemke bunted the runner over and Javy Lopez was walked intentionally.

After Jay Powell came on to pitch, Tony Graffanino walked to load the bases and Bautista flied to right fielder Gary Sheffield, whose throw to the plate was high.

Bautista has come through twice in the ninth in the past week, beating the St. Louis Cardinals with a ninth-inning homer Wednesday.

Greg Maddux, in his first start since becoming baseball’s richest player, allowed only five hits and one run over eight innings, but he didn’t figure in the decision. Mark Wohlers (4-4) picked up the win.

The Marlins scored their only run in the third against Maddux, who signed a five-year, $57.5 million contract extension Sunday.

Montreal 6, San Diego 3--Rookie Vladimir Guerrero’s two-run homer in the sixth inning snapped a tie at San Diego and Henry Rodriguez added a three-run homer.

David Segui had a solo shot for Montreal, which improved to 8-2 against San Diego this season.

Guerrero hit his seventh homer off Joey Hamilton (10-4), a 443-foot shot to center in the sixth inning to snap a 1-1 tie.

Rodriguez chased Hamilton in the seventh inning with his 24th homer, giving Montreal a 6-1 lead.

Houston 8, New York 3--Jeff Bagwell, whose support helped Pete Harnisch come back from clinical depression, homered and doubled off his friend as Astros defeated the Mets at New York.

Houston won its third in a row, finishing 3-5 on its trip. The NL Central leaders return to the Astrodome for an 11-game homestand, their longest of the season.

“If I saw him now, I’d give him a hug and say, ‘Good luck,’ ” said Bagwell, who spoke to Harnisch several times during his recovery. “Like they say, on the field, business is business. Of course, you don’t like to see your friends get beat up.”

Harnisch (0-1) struggled in his second start since coming back from the illness that had sidelined him since opening day. He gave up eight runs--his most since giving up nine on May 20, 1995--and 10 hits, seven for extra bases, in only 4 2/3 innings.

“Mechanical problems, lack of concentration, location was poor. All of the above,” Harnisch said.

Harnisch, however, did not list his illness as an excuse.

“I want to be evaluated on my pitching,” Harnisch said. “I’m not out there with a problem.”

Bagwell and Houston’s Craig Biggio and Tim Bogar were among several of Harnisch’s former teammates who frequently called the pitcher as he worked his way back to the majors.

But once Harnisch took the mound, the Houston hitters were all business, especially after Biggio appeared to playfully say something to Harnisch as he crossed the diamond after popping up to lead off the game.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Jeff Bagwell

Team: Houston

Performance: 2 for 4, 1 homer, 1 double

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Raul Mondesi

Team: Dodgers

Performance: 3 for 4, 1 double, 2 singles

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: V. Guerrero

Team: Montreal

Performance: 3 for 3, two-run homer

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

Player: Greg Maddux

Team: Atlanta

Performance: 8 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 7 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Kevin Brown

Team: Florida

Performance: 7 innings, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Loss

*

Player: Chan Ho Park

Team: Dodgers

Performance: 9 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 7 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win