NEW YORK, 30 April 2004 — Bill Hall drove in the winning run with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a dramatic 10-9 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Cincinnati led the game 9-0 in the fourth innings but the Brewers chipped away with runs in the fourth, three in the sixth, two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to force extra innings in Milwaukee. It was the largest lead lost by the Reds since 1930, when they relinquished a nine-run lead in a loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Hall had three hits and drove in four runs for the Brewers, and also tied the game with a three-run double in the eighth.

Dave Burba (2-0), the sixth Milwaukee pitcher, tossed a scoreless 10th inning for the win.

In Denver, Mike Lowell and Hee Seop Choi hit three-run homers to lead the Florida Marlins to a 9-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Josh Beckett (2-2) surrendered four runs on eight hits while striking out seven in seven innings for the Marlins.

In Pittsburgh, Josh Fogg pitched seven strong innings to lead the Pirates to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros. Fogg entered the game with an ERA of 17.00, but allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings for the victory and brought the ERA down to 10.69.

In St. Louis, Jim Thome had three hits and drove in three runs as the Philadelphia Phillies edged the Cardinals 6-3.

In Phoenix, Arizona’s Steve Finley hit three solo home runs but his side were still beaten 4-3 by the Chicago Cubs. Alex Gonzalez hit a tie-breaking homer in the top of the ninth inning for the Cubs who avoided a three-game series sweep.

In San Francisco, Michael Tucker had three hits, scored two runs and drove in two, for the Giants in their 10-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

In Los Angeles, Adrian Beltre and Dave Roberts both homered, in the Dodgers 3-2 victory over the New York Mets.

Odalis Perez (2-1) went six innings for the win. Eric Gagne got the last four outs for his sixth save of the season, though it was his 69th consecutive save.

In San Diego, Kahlil Greene drove in the winning run with an eighth-inning triple to lead the Padres to a 5-4 win over the Montreal Expos.

Boston’s Schilling Overpowers Devil Rays

Curt Schilling pitched 7 1/3 innings to lead the Boston Red Sox past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-0 in American League play on Wednesday.

Schilling (3-1) had his best game since being acquired from Arizona in the off-season to give the Red Sox their fourth straight win, turning in a masterful 106-pitch effort.

He allowed just five hits while striking out eight and walking none. Schilling left after getting the first out of the eighth inning to a standing ovation from the Boston crowd.

Schilling gave up seven runs on 13 hits in his previous start, a loss at Toronto, but lowered his ERA to 3.31 from 4.18 with Wednesday’s shutout innings.

In Chicago, the Cleveland Indians blew an 8-2 lead over the final three innings, including giving up five runs in the ninth, to lose 9-8 to the White Sox. The win was Chicago’s third come-from-behind ninth-inning victory this season. They had only two last year.

In Baltimore, Jay Gibbons hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to help the Orioles to a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners. John Parrish (2-1) pitched three hitless innings of relief for the win while Julio Lugo’s earned his third save.

In New York, Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi both homered to lead the Yankees past the slumping Oakland Athletics 5-1. Jose Contreras (1-2) pitched six solid innings for his first win of the season, while Tom Gordon got six outs to be credited with his first save.

In Detroit, a five-run third inning helped the Tigers to a 10-2 win over the Anaheim Angels. The Tigers (12-9), who lost a record 119 games last year, are assured of their first winning month of April since 1993.

In Kansas City, Ken Harvey hit a three-run homer as the Royals beat the Texas Rangers 5-3. Jimmy Gobble (1-0) allowed two runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings for the win. Tony Graffanino had three hits and drove in a run for the Royals.

In Minneapolis, Shannon Stewart had two hits, scored two runs and drove in another two to spark the Minnesota Twins to a 9-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.