NEW YORK, 1 May 2004 — Andy Pettitte recorded his first National League victory on Thursday, pitching six shutout innings in the Houston Astros’ 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pettitte struck out three and walked one in six brilliant innings in Pittsburgh as he showed no ill effects despite making his first start in 23 days due to a strained left elbow.
The former New York Yankees pitcher lost his NL debut on April 6, 7-5 to the San Francisco Giants and then went on the disabled list with elbow problems.
Raul Mondesi was the only Pittsburgh hitter to reach base against Pettitte, who won 21 games with the Yankees last year, drawing a first inning walk before hitting a single up the middle in the third inning, the only hit Pettitte allowed.
He left the game after throwing 74 pitches, 50 for strikes, turning the game over to relievers Dan Micelli, Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel, who each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the two-hitter.
In St. Louis, Jim Edmonds hit a lead-off home run in the 13th inning to give the Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The victory meant that St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa became just the second manager, after Sparky Anderson, to win 700 games with two different teams (St. Louis and Oakland).
In San Francisco, Mike Lowell’s solo homer in the top of the ninth followed Hee Seop Choi and Ramon Castro’s earlier home runs to give the Florida Marlins a 4-3 win over the Giants. Barry Bonds hit his 10th home run of the season and 668th of his career for the Giants. He went 2-for-2 and is now batting .490.
In San Diego, David Wells pitched a two-hitter over seven innings to lead the Padres past the Montreal Expos 2-1. Wells (1-2) allowed one unearned run with three strikeouts and no walks. Trevor Hoffman gave up two hits in the ninth inning but still earned his sixth save for the Padres.
In Los Angeles, Karim Garcia hit a two-run homer, powering the New York Mets to a 6-1 win over the Dodgers.
Eric Valent had two hits and drove in a run for the Mets while Jae Weong Seo (1-3) went 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits.
Rangers Score Three in Ninth
to Beat Royals
Michael Young and Brad Fullmer homered during a three-run rally in the ninth inning, leading the Texas Rangers past the Kansas City Royals 9-7 in American League.
Young tied the game with a solo homer and Hank Blalock followed with a triple. He then scored on Fullmer’s two-out homer, off reliever Curtis Leskanic (0-3) to complete the comeback for the Rangers in Kansas City. Carlos Almanzar (3-0) picked up the win with two perfect innings of relief. Francisco Cordero worked the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances. Leskanic blew the save for the third time in five opportunities this season. Rod Barajas also homered for Texas and had two hits and three RBI.
In Baltimore, Melvin Mora and Brian Roberts both had four hits as the Orioles outslugged the Seattle Mariners 9-5. Luis Matos contributed three of the Orioles’ 15 hits, while Eric DuBose (3-2) tossed a three-hitter over seven innings for the win. Joe Pineiro (1-3) allowed 12 hits in the loss.
In Detroit, Vladimir Guerrero homered, doubled and had two singles as the Anaheim Angels mauled the Tigers 12-3. Jose Guillen homered and drove in three runs, while Darin Erstad added two hits and four RBI for the Angels.
In Boston, Byung-Hyun Kim and three relievers combined on a three-hitter as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-0 in the first game of a double header.
In the second game, Jason Varitek hit a three-run homer to lead the Red Sox to a 7-3 victory over the Devil Rays. The Red Sox scored all seven runs in the first inning but finally allowed a run after 32 scoreless innings while winning their sixth straight game.
In New York, Derek Jeter hit a lead-off home run to break an 0-for-32 slump while Kevin Brown won his fourth game as the Yankees beat the struggling Oakland Athletics 7-5. Miguel Cairo, Bernie Williams and Alex Rodriguez also homered for the Yankees, who have won three straight games.
In Chicago, Esteban Loaiza won his fourth game as the Chicago White Sox scored five runs in the sixth inning to beat the reeling Toronto Blue Jays 6-4. Loaiza (4-0) allowed four runs on seven hits in six-plus innings.
