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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DENVER (AP) – Larry Walker is giving the Colorado Rockies more
for less.
|  | | Larry Walker is tied for the National League record with 11 homers in April. He is two shy of the major league record. |
Walker, who last month agreed to defer $18 million in salary
over the next three years, hit two home runs to tie for the major
league lead as the Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 14-1 on Tuesday
night.
With 11 homers, Walker has two more than all of last year and
tied the NL record for April shared by five others, including Luis
Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Walker also hit 11 in April
1997 when he was named the league MVP.
"Can I hit one more? If somebody hangs a curveball or throws a
fastball where I'm looking, yeah, there's a chance I could,"
Walker said. "I'm really not concerned with it. We're tied for
first, so that's more important to anybody in this clubhouse,
including myself."
Ken Griffey Jr. holds the major league record for April home
runs with 13 in 1997.
Walker, who had five RBIs, was just one of several Rockies who
overwhelmed Chicago starter Kevin Tapani (3-1).
Todd Helton had two hits, including a three-run homer, to help
Colorado beat Tapani (3-1) for the first time in seven tries. The
right-hander's ERA skyrocketed from 0.96 to 4.91.
"I just wasn't sharp," Tapani said. "What happened can happen
here especially when they are swinging the bats well. I can't
really say they hit a lot of good pitches. They hit a lot of fat
ones."
Entering the night, Chicago's pitching staff led the NL with a
2.96 ERA and had not allowed more than seven runs in a game. The
team ERA increased to 3.56, and the Rockies had nine runs after
Helton's home run with one out in the fourth.
Tapani, who had given up two runs in his first three starts,
surrendered 10 runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings. He also matched
his season total with three walks.
"There's a few parks in this league where pitchers can be
pitching well but they can get lit up," Walker said. "Here,
Houston, Chicago, they're hitters ballparks. Unfortunately for Tap,
he was a victim of it tonight."
Rockies starter Mike Hampton (3-0) was the anti-Tapani, holding
the Cubs to one run and three hits in five innings before leaving
with a stiff neck.
Colorado, which has won seven of nine, could afford to rest
Hampton after building a 14-1 lead in the fifth.
"It's just hotel beds and pillows. It kind of stiffens up every
once in a while," Hampton said. "Rather than chance it, we had a
pretty good offensive night, and I didn't want to risk bad
mechanics and a sore arm, so the smartest thing was to get out of
there when I did."
Hampton, who signed an eight-year, $121 million contract in
December, said he will see a chiropractor and plans to take a
special pillow on the road. His next scheduled start is Sunday at
home.
Chicago scored its only run in the first on Sammy Sosa's RBI
groundout, but Walker got the Rockies rolling with a three-run
homer before Tapani could get an out in the bottom of the inning.
Every Colorado starter except Hampton had a hit by the fourth.
Todd Hollandsworth was 4-for-4, Brent Mayne and Neifi Perez had
three hits, and four other Rockies finished with at least two hits
and seven players drove in a run.
The Cubs, meanwhile, failed to get a runner past first after the
first inning and lost for the third time in 12 games.
Game notes
Walker has 24 career multihomer games. ... Rockies 2B Todd
Walker has a nine-game hitting streak, matching a career-best. ...
Jeff Cirillo singled and homered against Tapani to improve to
11-for-21 against the right-hander. ... The Cubs have allowed at
least one home run in all 35 games they've played at Coors Field.
... Sosa, a career .350 hitter at Coors Field, was 1-for-4 and is
3-for-15 on Chicago's current nine-game road trip. ... Cubs INF Ron
Coomer, three weeks removed from knee surgery, is expected to join
the team Wednesday.
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RECAPS
Boston 9
Minnesota 4
Anaheim 7
Cleveland 2
Baltimore 8
Detroit 3
Seattle 7
NY Yankees 5
Toronto 7
Texas 5
Tampa Bay 4
Kansas City 2
Oakland 6
Chi. White Sox 4
Houston 11
Atlanta 6
Milwaukee 6
NY Mets 4
St. Louis 7
Montreal 2
Colorado 14
Chicago Cubs 1
Arizona 9
Florida 8
Philadelphia 12
San Diego 7
Pittsburgh 5
Los Angeles 1
Cincinnati 9
San Francisco 5
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