Howard Provides Reds With Something Extra

Thomas Howard singled home Bret Boone in the bottom of the 13th inning Wednesday night as the Reds extended their domination of the San Diego Padres with a 2-1 victory at Cincinnati.

Boone opened the 13th with a single against Sean Bergman (5-8), advanced on Jeff Branson’s sacrifice and scored on Howard’s single to right, his third hit of the game.

The Reds are 7-1 against San Diego this season and have won their last five against the Padres.

Tony Gwynn had three hits, giving him 2,500 for his career, and figured in a ninth-inning rally that sent the game to extra innings. He also was thrown out at home in the ninth and hit into a double play in the 13th against Lee Smith (3-2).

Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1--David West and three relievers gave up nine hits but only one run as the Phillies ended a five-game losing streak with a victory at Philadelphia.

West (1-1), making only his third start since coming off the disabled list, gave up six hits and one run in five innings. He struck out one and walked two for his first win since July 6, 1995.

Jeff Parrett pitched one inning, Ken Ryan pitched two and Ricky Bottalico got three outs for his 24th save.

Atlanta’s Marquis Grissom had two singles to extend his hitting streak to 19 games.

Terry Pendleton, making his first start for the Braves since being acquired from the Florida Marlins on Tuesday, had one hit in four at-bats.

New York 8, Chicago 5--Bobby Jones carried a shutout into the eighth before tiring and Carlos Baerga drove in three runs in the victory at New York.

Jones (10-7) didn’t show any signs of the strained right shoulder that forced him to leave his last start. He gave up eight hits in seven-plus innings.

Baerga had two hits and Lance Johnson drove in two runs with his major league-leading 16th triple for the Mets, who built an 8-0 lead then hung on for the victory.

Florida 2, Colorado 1--Kevin Brown tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and Joe Orsulak hit his second home run of the year in the eighth inning to lead the Marlins at Miami.

Brown (11-10) gave up three hits and walked none in eight innings. Brown, who has the worst run support in the major leagues, drove in the Marlins’ first run with a two-out infield single in the second inning.

Brown’s earned-run average dropped to 1.97, lowest in the majors. Robb Nen pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.

Florida rookie Edgar Renteria extended the longest current hitting streak in the major leagues to 20 games with an infield single in the first inning.

Houston 8, Montreal 3--Shane Reynolds became a 15-game winner, and Jeff Bagwell and Sean Berry drove in two runs each as the Astros won at Montreal.

Reynolds (15-6), who added two hits, gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings. He fell behind, 3-0, in the first on Moises Alou’s three-run homer, but settled down to win his third consecutive start.

Pittsburgh 4, San Francisco 3--Rookie left-hander Chris Peters gave up six hits over 7 1/3 innings at Pittsburgh as a Pirate starter won for only the third time in 22 games.

Peters (1-2), winless in four previous starts with a 7.83 ERA, supported his first major-league victory with his first hit and first run batted in as the Pirates ended a five-game losing streak.