Maddux Not Perfect but at Least He Wins

Greg Maddux will trade power pitching for near perfection any day, as long as he keeps winning.

“I give up over 200 hits a year; what’s one more?” Maddux said Saturday after pitcher Mark Gardner singled to break up his perfect-game bid with two out in the sixth.

Then, after Maddux wasted a two-run lead, the Atlanta Braves came back to defeat the Giants, 5-2, on Saturday at San Francisco.

“I’m not overpowering. I try to throw strikes, so I’m not going to get that many chances at a no-hitter,” said Maddux (7-2), who has never thrown one. “Usually the no-hit pitchers are the big strikeout pitchers.”

Maddux’s walks are scarce, but his first walk was costly.

Leading, 2-0, Maddux walked J.T. Snow on five pitches leading off the eighth and then gave up a game-tying homer to Glenallen Hill.

“You knew something was up when he walked Snow to start the inning, because he never does that,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said. “But that’s the toughest part for me. He’s still pretty good at 75%, because he locates the ball so well.”

Andruw Jones, a late-inning defensive replacement, hit a tiebreaking homer off Doug Henry (2-2) in a three-run ninth. Kenny Lofton hit a two-run triple later in the inning off Rich Rodriguez.

“I won the game after they tied it up,” Maddux said, “so for me to be upset about losing a no-hitter is like saying, ‘I’ve won the lotto, but it should have been for a million more.’ ”

Mark Wohlers pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.

Pittsburgh 9, Philadelphia 2--Jon Lieber, after giving up two runs in the first inning , gave up only two hits in the next five-plus innings, and the Pirates won their third in a row at Pittsburgh.

The Phillies, by losing the first two games of the three-game series, have still not won a series in Three Rivers Stadium since July 26-29, 1990.

Lieber (3-7), a loser in four of his previous five starts, ran into first-inning problems by allowing Ricky Otero’s triple, Scott Rolen’s run-scoring double and Rico Brogna’s run-scoring single.

But the Phillies didn’t advance a runner past first again until Lieber was lifted after Gregg Jefferies’ leadoff single in the seventh. Matt Ruebel walked Kevin Stocker with one out, but Clint Sodowsky got pinch-hitter Mike Lieberthal to bounce into a double play.

Montreal 5, Chicago 0--F.P. Santangelo homered from both sides of the plate and Carlos Perez pitched his second consecutive shutout at Montreal.

Santangelo hit a two-run homer as a right-handed in the fifth inning against Terry Mulholland, and hit a solo shot as a left-handed in the eighth off Mel Rojas.

Santangelo, who also had an run-scoring grounder, became the third Expo to homer from both sides.

Tim Raines did it in 1988 and Bret Barberie accomplished the feat in 1991.

Perez (6-4) became the first Expos pitcher to record consecutive shutouts since Mark Gardner in July 1990.

Santangelo gave Montreal a 1-0 lead in the third with an run-scoring grounder. His homer in the fifth made it 4-0 against Mulholland (5-5).

Cincinnati 10, New York 5--Terry Pendleton had three hits, including a pair of run-scoring doubles at Cincinnati.

Scott Sullivan (1-1) took over for injured Red starter Mike Morgan with the bases loaded and one out in the second and got Manny Alexander to hit into a double play. Sullivan gave up two hits in 3 2/3 innings for his first major league victory.

Rain delayed the start of the game for 62 minutes and changed the Mets’ pitching plans. They decided to give reliever Cory Lidle (3-1) his first major league start and hold back scheduled starter Mark Clark, who has a tender ankle and knee.

Lidle gave up six hits and a pair of runs to take his first major league loss. When his three innings were up, the rain had moved on and Manager Bobby Valentine decided to pitch Clark after all.

Florida 7, Colorado 5--Jeff Conine and Alex Arias hit late-inning homers as the Marlins won the rain-delayed first game of a scheduled day-night doubleheader at Denver.

The game was delayed in the middle of the third inning for 2 hours 13 minutes by rain and a tornado warning. Because of the delay, the second game was postponed until today, when theteams will again try to play a doubleheader.

Conine rallied the Marlins from a 5-4 deficit, hitting a two-run homer with one out in the seventh. His opposite-field shot came after Bobby Bonilla walked and gave Darren Holmes (2-1) the loss.

Arias hit a solo homer--the first in his career as a pinch-hitter--off Steve Reed in the eighth.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result F.P. Santangelo Montreal 2 for 4, 4 RBIs, homers Win from both sides of plate Todd Hundley New York 2 for 4, double, homer Loss Jeff Conine Florida 3 for 5, 3 RBIs, double, homer Win Kenny Lofton Atlanta 2 for 5, 3 RBIs, triple Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Carlos Perez Montreal 9 innings, 7 hits, Win no runs, 5 strikeouts Greg Maddux Atlanta 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned Win run, 6 strikeouts

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