The Arizona Diamondbacks intentionally walked Barry Bonds with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, then held on to beat San Francisco 8-7 Thursday night.
After J.T. Snow walked to load the bases, Arizona manager Buck Showalter order Gregg Olson to intentionally walk the dangerous Bonds, forcing home a run. The move worked, barely, when Brent Mayne lined out to right on a 3-2 pitch. Olson issued six walks in 1 1/3 innings but earned his sixth save. Brian Anderson (2-6) won for the first time in seven weeks.
Expos 9, Braves 5: The shaky Atlanta bullpen again prevented Dennis Martinez from joining Juan Marichal as the winningest Latin American pitcher in baseball history as visiting Montreal won. Vladimir Guerrero’s infield single with the bases loaded broke a ninth-inning tie, and Brad Fullmer followed with a three-run double to seal the victory. It was Mike Maddux (1-1), not Martinez, who earned the win. Mark Wohlers (0-1) took the loss, allowing all four ninth-inning runs on three hits and two walks.
Cardinals 4, Rockies 1: Mark McGwire and his teammates failed to homer for the second straight day, but Brian Jordan returned to the lineup with two RBIs and St. Louis won at home. McGwire, who has now gone seven at-bats without a homer, singled, walked twice and lined out to the wall in left field. The Cardinals had homered at least once in 17 games before Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the Rockies. McGwire’s 58 walks lead the majors.
Dodgers 4, Reds 3: Bobby Bonilla hit a two-out single off the glove of left-fielder Melvin Nieves, driving in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. The win was the sixth in eight games for the Dodgers, while the Reds lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Dodgers catcher Charles Johnson broke an 0-for-35 slump by hitting a leadoff homer in the fourth, his eighth of the year. Bret Boone had three hits for the Reds.
