Big Blows Give Giants a Power Lift, 8-6

The San Francisco Giants are not ready to collapse, at least not against the Montreal Expos.

Damon Berryhill hit a three-run home run as the Giants batted around in a six-run first inning Sunday and then held on for an 8-6 victory over the Montreal Expos.

After Montreal closed within a run, Darryl Hamilton hit a two-run home run in the eighth off Jim Bullinger, his first home run in 108 at-bats.

Joe Paniagua, making his season debut, retired San Francisco’s first batter, but the next five Giants reached. Jeff Kent, J.T. Snow and Stan Javier hit RBI singles before Berryhill hit his third home run of the season.

“Personally I’ve been struggling, but you go up there thinking you’ll get a fastball to hit,” Berryhill said. “He threw a slider that kind of backed up, and I got some good wood on it.”

Paniagua gave up six runs and five hits in one inning.

“Jose didn’t have any life in his fastball,” Montreal Manager Felipe Alou said. “What we saw was not big-league stuff, as briefly as he pitched.”

Berryhill left after the fourth because of a pulled right hamstring.

Giant starter Wilson Alvarez, acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on July 31, left in the fifth inning with left shoulder tightness, and is scheduled to undergo an MRI. He gave up five runs on four hits.

Doug Henry (4-4) relieved and pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings. Rod Beck pitched the ninth for his 34th save in 39 chances, giving up an RBI single to Jose Vidro.

Rondell White and rookie Vladimir Guerrero hit home runs for the Expos. White hit his 19th homer with one out in the second, and Guerrero hit a two-run homer in the third. Montreal pulled to 6-5 in the fifth on RBI singles by Guerrero and David Segui.

St. Louis 3, Atlanta 1--Denny Neagle lost for the first time since the All-Star break as Danny Sheaffer snapped an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double to lead the Cardinals at St. Louis.

The Cardinals took two of three from Atlanta.

Brian Jordan singled with one out, Ray Lankford doubled with two outs and Willie McGee walked before Sheaffer, who entered the game with seven RBIs, drove a 1-and-2 pitch to left-center.

Sheaffer, who drove in the other Cardinal run with a fourth-inning squeeze bunt, hadn’t had an RBI since July 16.

Neagle (16-3) had been 4-0 with a 1.81 earned-run average in seven starts since his last loss, July 6 at Montreal. Neagle gave up seven hits, struck out eight and walked two in 7 2/3 innings.

Rookie reliever Curtis King (2-0) got the last two outs in eighth and Dennis Eckersley pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save.

Florida 10, Pittsburgh 2--Moises Alou had five RBIs, including a three-run home run, and Kevin Brown pitched eight innings at Miami.

Alou hit his 16th home run--the 100th of his seven-year career--to make the score 6-0 in the third. His single drove in two runs in the first and he finished two for four, raising his average to .300.

Brown (11-8) gave up two runs on nine hits and no walks, while striking out seven. He also singled home a run in the seventh.

Brown improved to 4-1 in five starts against Pittsburgh with a 1.18 ERA.

Charles Johnson hit his 16th homer in the sixth.

Houston 11, Philadelphia 6--At Houston, Billy Brewer walked in the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh as the Astros stopped the Phillies’ six-game winning streak.

Trailing, 6-5, the Astros loaded the bases in the seventh off Wayne Gomes (2-1). Brewer retired Luis Gonzalez on a popup, then walked Ricky Gutierrez on a 3-and-2 pitch and Tim Bogar on four pitches.

James Mouton singled off Brewer’s glove for a 8-6 lead, and Houston added three runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Gutierrez and a two-run single by Mouton off Jerry Spradlin.

Tom Martin (5-3) won despite giving up a two-run single to Mike Lieberthal in the seventh that spoiled a 5-4 lead. Russ Springer got six outs for his second save.

Derek Bell had four hits, including two doubles for the Astros.

Chicago 6, San Diego 5--At San Diego, Mark Clark gave up five hits in seven innings--none by the Padres’ top six hitters--for his second consecutive win as the Cubs stopped the Padre winning streak at three.

Mark Grace hit a two-run triple to cap the four-run fifth and Sammy Sosa added a bloop RBI triple for the Cubs, who had 12 hits and avoided a three-game sweep.

San Diego’s Carlos Hernandez went three for four with a home run and three RBIs.

Clark (10-7) is 2-0 with the Cubs since getting traded in a six-player deal with the New York Mets. He gave up four runs, struck out seven and walked two.

San Diego’s Tony Gwynn went 0 for four and his batting average dropped to .379--his lowest average since it was .379 on May 21.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Derek Bell

Team: Houston

Performance: 4 for 5, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs, 2 runs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Moises Alou

Team: Florida

Performance: 2 for 4, 3-run homer, 5 RBIs, 2 runs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: C. Hernandez

Team: San Diego

Performance: 3 for 4, triple, homer, 3 RBIs, 2 runs

Team’s Result: Loss

*

Player: Damon Berryhill

Team: San Francisco

Performance: 2 for 2, double, homer, 3 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

Player: Brett Tomko

Team: Cincinnati

Performance: 7 innings, 7 hits, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts, 0 walks

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Kevin Brown

Team: Florida

Performance: 8 innings, 9 hits, 2 runs, 7 strikeouts, 0 walks

Team’s Result: Win