Gardner Is a Giant in Victory

Mark Gardner pitched a six-hitter for his second shutout of the season, and his two-run single started the Giants’ seven-run second inning as they defeated the Florida Marlins, 10-0, on Friday night at San Francisco.

J.T. Snow broke an 0-for-20 slump with a two-run homer and Marvin Benard added a solo shot for San Francisco, which remained three games behind Chicago and 2 1/2 behind New York in the NL wild-card race.

The victory was only the third in the last 10 games for the Giants. They played without Barry Bonds, who began serving a three-game suspension for charging the mound after being hit by a pitch from Ricky Bottalico at Philadelphia on Aug. 2.

Gardner (9-5), who came to San Francisco after being released by Florida three years ago, struck out eight and walked two in the eighth shutout of his career and his 13th complete game. His last shutout was a three-hitter against Texas on June 28.

Gardner, who has given up at least one home run in 15 of 25 starts, kept Marlin batters in the park. Giant pitchers had been rocked for 24 homers over the previous seven games.

Marlin starter Andy Larkin (3-8) couldn’t get out of the second inning. He gave up seven runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Chicago 6, Houston 4--Sammy Sosa hit a tiebreaking RBI double and pitcher Mark Clark capped Chicago’s four-run sixth inning with a two-run single at Houston, snapping the Astros’ seven-game winning streak.

The Astros had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, but Rod Beck got Ricky Gutierrez to hit into a force out for his 35th save.

Sosa went 3-for-5, including his go-ahead double in the sixth after a fan ran down to the Cubs dugout with a sign that said “Not in our house Sosa.”

Cincinnati 3, Montreal 2--Roberto Petagine’s pinch-hit single to center field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Reds the victory at Cincinnati.

The game provided a first for the ‘90s because both teams had brothers in the starting lineup. Wilton and Vladimir Guerrero started for the Expos, and Aaron and Bret Boone started for the Reds.

Philadelphia 6, Colorado 2--Doug Glanville hit a two-run homer and Carlton Loewer pitched 6 1/3 strong innings at Denver as the Phillies ended Colorado’s season-high four-game winning streak.

Scott Rolen broke out of an 0-for-13 slump with a double for the Phillies, who had lost 11 of their previous 14 games.

New York 3, Arizona 2--Brian McRae hit a two-run home run at Phoenix and Rick Reed won his 14th game for the Mets.

Turk Wendell got three outs for his first save as the Mets remained half a game behind the Chicago Cubs in the race for the wild card.

John Olerud, the NL’s leading hitter, was two for three to raise his average to .351.

San Diego 7, Milwaukee 0--Sterling Hitchcock pitched a five-hitter at San Diego for the second shutout of his career.

Hitchcock (7-4) struck out nine and walked one in his first shutout since May 21, 1995, while pitching for the New York Yankees.