| |
GAME UPDATE
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
HOUSTON (AP) -- Bill Spiers doesn't usually hit home runs. Sunday
was an exception.
Spiers homered twice and drove in six runs, and the Houston
Astros hit a record-tying four homers off Andy Benes in the second
inning in a 15-7 romp over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Lance Berkman also connected twice as the Astros tied a team
mark with six home runs in a game.
"That's not me, I just got lucky," Spiers said. "The guys
always tell me I don't have any pop and they're right."
Benes became the 17th major league pitcher to allow four home
runs in one inning. The previous time also occurred at Enron Field
on April 27 when the Chicago Cubs did it against Jose Lima.
"I've never had this rough an outing," Benes said. "I don't
like to point fingers, but you can point the finger at me. I was
the only guy who had a bad day."
After taking a 9-0 lead after two innings, it still took Spiers'
grand slam in the seventh to clinch it.
"It's just disappointing, because any other time you put a team
down 9-0 after two innings and you can forget about them," Benes
said. "But our guys came back and made a game of it. It was
amazing."
Spiers homered in the big second inning and added a grand slam
in the seventh.
"You don't expect home runs from him, you expect him to hit the
ball and drive in runs," Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "When
he hits home runs, it's a bonus."
It was the third grand slam of Spiers' career and the 37th and
38th homers of his 10-year major league career. His last slam was
in 1991 against the Detroit Tigers.
The Astros began their burst against Benes (10-5) on Julio
Lugo's triple in the second. After Shane Reynolds (7-7) struck out,
Spiers followed with his second homer of the season.
Craig Biggio singled, and Jeff Bagwell and Berkman hit
consecutive home runs. With two outs, Hidalgo connected and chased
Benes in his shortest outing of the season. The four homers in an
inning set an Astros record.
Berkman homered off brothers Andy and Alan Benes.
"I was fortunate to get two pitches I could handle," Berkman
said. "They were both fastballs but those are two good pitchers.
It's not something I'm going to do every day."
Nor did he object to Spiers getting most of the attention.
"I get two home runs and get overshadowed and we get a win like
this, I'll take it every time," Berkman said.
Reynolds snapped a string of five straight losses. He allowed
two hits over the first four innings before Craig Paquette reached
on Spiers' error at third, Rick Wilkins singled and Fernando Vina
hit a three-run homer.
Paquette's grounder gave St. Louis another run in the sixth.
Reynolds left after 6 2/3 innings. Fernando Tatis hit a two-run
single in the seventh off reliever Marc Valdes.
Spiers and Berkman homered in a six-run seventh.
The seven homers brought the total to 160 hit at Enron Field
this season, compared to 118 for all of last season in the
Astrodome.
Jason Green, called up from the minors Saturday, made his major
league debut and pitched 1 2/3 innings for the Astros. He was
pulled after walking Placido Polanco with the bases loaded and two
outs in the ninth.
The Astros beat the Cardinals 10-5 on Saturday.
"It's been two days in a row this has happened to us," St.
Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "Our pitching just didn't get it
done the last two days, but you have to credit the Astros."
Game notes
Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny has caught a major league
best 53 percent of attempted basestealers. ... Jim Edmonds leads
the Cardinals with 34 multi-hit games. ... The Astros are closing
in on the club record of 82 home runs at home. They've hit 80 this
season.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 1
Chi. White Sox 0
Detroit 12
Kansas City 9
NY Yankees 5
Tampa Bay 1
Toronto 4
Baltimore 1
Cleveland 8
Minnesota 3
Oakland 5
Anaheim 0
Texas 3
Seattle 2
Cincinnati 5
Arizona 3
Philadelphia 4
Pittsburgh 1
Chicago Cubs 5
Milwaukee 4
San Diego 6
Colorado 4
Houston 15
St. Louis 7
Montreal 7
Florida 6
Atlanta 1
NY Mets 0
Los Angeles 5
San Francisco 0
|