Gardner’s Throb a Pain to Astros, 3-1

Despite his success, Mark Gardner would just as soon not pitch with his forearm throbbing.

The San Francisco Giants found out how much difference that makes when they watched Gardner have his best outing since being hit by a pitch three weeks ago.

Gardner gave up five hits and one walk, while striking out five in eight innings in a 3-1 victory over the Astros at Houston Thursday. He improved to 5-1 in games following Giants’ losses.

Rod Beck pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 30th save as Houston’s three-game winning streak ended.

Gardner (10-4) was hit by a pitch by the Rockies’ Mike DeJean on June 26 in Colorado. The bruise on his right forearm forced Gardner to be pushed back in the rotation once, and he has pitched with pain twice since then, winning once and one no-decision.

But Thursday was different.

“Since the injury that’s the longest Mark has gone and the sharpest he’s looked,” Manager Dusty Baker said. “Mark was just excellent today from start to finish. He was extra sharp in the beginning.”

Gardner said his arm was feeling better.

“I had no pain at all today,” Gardner said. “I realized after the last start in L.A. that I was getting better. I had no soreness after that start.

“Today, I felt great. I felt locked in from the start as far as knowing what I wanted to do and not having any pain in the forearm.”

New York 4, Chicago 3--Last year, the Mets might have extended their losing streak to four on an afternoon like this. This year, players like Butch Huskey are coming through to stop the skids.

“This could have been disastrous,” Huskey said after his game-winning single in the 10th inning capped his first four-hit game and led the Mets at New York.

Huskey is 12 for 25 over seven games with three homers and nine RBIs to raise his average to .290. Met Manager Bobby Valentine said Huskey has gone “from a young hitter to an experienced hitter.”

“I was pretty much a hacker,” Huskey said. “I don’t know if I’m an experienced major-league hitter, but I’d like to think I know what I’m doing when I go up to the plate.”

Much of New York’s play was as poor as the weather conditions, which had 90-degree temperatures and high humidity when the game began shortly after noon.

Cincinnati 9, Pittsburgh 5--Francisco Cordova started, Ricardo Rincon finished and Mark Smith homered. But it wasn’t exactly history repeating itself for the Pirates.

This time, Cordova lasted only two-plus innings in his first start since his combination no-hitter and the Pirates wound up losing at Pittsburgh.

Hal Morris had three hits and five runs batted in by the fourth inning as the Reds completed a two-game sweep. The Reds closed within 4 1/2 games of the Pirates and Astros, who remained in a virtual tie for the NL Central lead.

“It means everything,” Manager Ray Knight said of the Reds’ mini-sweep. “We accomplished what we hoped we could do. It’s a big swing. Instead of being 8 1/2 games behind [if the Pirates had swept], it’s 4 1/2 games. The other way would have been disastrous. If it was 8 1/2, every loss would bury us more.”

San Diego 3, St. Louis 1--Joey Hamilton pitched eight-plus innings and Steve Finley hit a two-run home run as the Padres handed the Cardinals their sixth consecutive home loss.

Tony Gwynn went two for four with a run-scoring double and raised his batting average one point to .398.

The Padres, 6-2 since the All-Star break, have won four consecutive games on the road and nine of their last 12.

Hamilton (8-3) gave up seven hits, struck out one and walked one. He was lifted after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth. Trevor Hoffman got three outs for his 21st save. Hamilton, who hasn’t pitched a complete game since last July 22, is 4-0 with a 3.47 earned-run average in his last eight outings.

St. Louis starter Andy Benes (6-4) gave up five hits and three runs in seven innings. Benes has one victory in his last seven starts.

Montreal 5, Philadelphia 4--Talk about carrying a team: Carlos Perez was both the pitching and batting star for the Expos.

Perez gave up seven hits over 8 2/3 innings and drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning double as the Expos beat the Phillies at Philadelphia.

“Perez pitched great, but he got a little tired running the bases,” said Expo Manager Felipe Alou. “He was one pitch away from going all the way.”

Perez (9-6), who also had a single and scored a run, blamed the heat rather than his extracurricular baserunning for his inability to finish the game.

“I got a little tired in the ninth; it was really hot out there,” said Perez of the 91-degree temperature and high humidity.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

*--*

Player Team Performance Team’s Result Hal Morris Cincinnati 3 for 4, 5 RBIs by 4th inning Win Ryan Klesko Atlanta 2 home runs and 3 RBIs Win Butch Huskey New York 4 for 5 and game-winning hit Win

*--*

PITCHING

*--*

Player Team Performance Team’s Result Carlos Perez Montreal 8 2/3 innings, 7 hits, 4 strikeouts Win Greg Maddux Atlanta 7 innings, 7 hits, NL’s first 13-game winner Win Mark Gardner San Francisco 8 innings, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts Win

*--*