Padres’ Rally Falls Short Against Braves

Tom Glavine pitched a strong seven-plus innings and Marquis Grissom had four hits Wednesday night as the Atlanta Braves ended a three-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over the Padres at San Diego.

Glavine (12-5) retired 11 consecutive Padres and left the game with a 6-0 lead after giving up a single to Wally Joyner to open the eighth.

San Diego rallied for four runs in the inning, before reliever Pedro Borbon got the Padres out by striking out Steve Finley and retiring pinch-hitter Scott Livingstone on a fly to left with runners at second and third.

Glavine was charged with four runs and seven hits but won his fourth consecutive game. Mark Wohlers pitched the ninth for his 25th save.

Bob Tewksbury (9-6), who had won four consecutive decisions, gave up five runs--two earned--and seven hits in six innings for San Diego.

Atlanta will be without pitcher Steve Avery for at least another week after an MRI test showed the strain of his left oblique muscle has not healed. It’s uncertain when Avery will return but there are not any tears or bone breaks, according to team officials.

Chicago 4, San Francisco 1--The Cubs pulled within two games of .500 for the first time since May 17 with a win over the Giants at Chicago.

Steve Trachsel limited San Francisco to four hits over seven innings, striking out five and walking two. Turk Wendell worked 1 1/3 innings for his 10th save as the Cubs won their third in a row and for the seventh time in their last eight games.

“If it takes that good a pitching [to win the division] you’re in trouble,” said Chicago Manager Jim Riggleman. “He held them to four hits. I think [it will take] just good pitching, pitchers who get you into the seventh inning in situations where you got a chance to win.”

Barry Bonds hit his 28th home run for the Giants, who have lost five consecutive road games and 17 of their last 19 away from home.

Montreal 6, Colorado 2--Jeff Fassero pitched a six-hitter and Moises Alou homered and drove in four runs to give the Expos a three-game sweep of the Rockies at Montreal.

Fassero (11-7) struck out four and walked three--one intentionally--to win his third consecutive start. In pitching his fourth complete game this season, Fassero helped hand the Rockies their loss in a row and 14th defeat in 17 road games.

“I’m just happy to be throwing the ball as well as I am,” said Fassero. “I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff today, but I was able to survive the day by locating my fastball and get it in on them. It’s certainly easier to do it here than at Colorado.”

Colorado, 16-35 on the road this season, scored four runs--three earned--on 17 hits in the three-game series. The Rockies are 38-18 at Coors Field, averaging 8.25 runs per game. However, they are scoring just 3.43 runs per game on the road.

New York 3, Pittsburgh 2--Reserve outfielder Chris Jones hit a two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Mets rallied to a come-from-behind win over the Pirates at New York.

“The bottom line is that I’m in the big leagues,” said Jones, who hit two game-winning, pinch-hit homers last season. “That’s the way I look at it. You’re only in the majors a short period of time and you have to give 100%. I don’t leave anything on the table.”

Bernard Gilkey’s 24th homer of the season had tied the game for the Mets in the ninth before Jones’ homer gave the Mets their fifth consecutive win and third comeback victory in a row.

Cincinnati 10, Houston 0--John Smiley threw a four-hitter and Bret Boone and Barry Larkin combined to drive in seven runs as the Reds routed the Astros at Cincinnati.

Smiley gave up singles in the second, third, seventh and eighth innings as he pitched his first complete game of the season and first shutout since May 2, 1994. He walked one and struck out struck out seven.

Boone had a run-scoring single in the fifth and a three-run double in the seventh. Two of Larkin’s three RBIs came on his 17th homer in the eighth.