Cardinals beat Giants 5-1

<br>ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Matt Morris allowed one run in eight innings as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-1. <br><br>Morris (11-6) snapped a two-game losing streak as he struck out

Friday, July 19th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Matt Morris allowed one run in eight innings as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-1.

Morris (11-6) snapped a two-game losing streak as he struck out eight and walked one while holding the Giants to just one run Thursday.

J.D. Drew hit a two-out RBI double, and Mike DiFelice added a two-run single off Jason Schmidt (5-4) as the Cardinals broke a 1-all tie with a three-run sixth inning.

The Cardinals have won five of six and 10 of 14. The Giants have lost just three of their past 10 games.

Braves 3, Marlins 1

In Atlanta, Tom Glavine (12-5) won for the first time in six starts as Atlanta sent reeling Florida to its eighth straight loss.

Florida, the only winless team in the major leagues since the All-Star break, hasn't won since trading away slugger Cliff Floyd and pitcher Ryan Dempster on July 11.

Atlanta won its third straight _ allowing just one run during that span _ and improved to 16-0-4 in its past 20 series. That's the longest streak in franchise history, surpassing the Boston Beaneaters' 19-game run in 1897.

Braves pitchers hadn't allowed a run in 26 innings before Mike Redmond's RBI single in the sixth. John Smoltz pitched the ninth for his major league-best 34th save in 37 opportunities.

Julian Tavarez (7-6) gave up three runs and four hits in five innings.

Expos 2, Mets 1

In Montreal, Vladimir Guerrero hit his third homer in two games, a go-ahead drive in the eighth inning that led the Expos over New York, ending the Mets' four-game winning streak.

Bartolo Colon (3-0) scattered 13 hits for his second straight complete game, his sixth of the season. It was the most hits allowed in a complete-game win since Jim Abbott led the Chicago White Sox over the New York Yankees 9-4 on July 18, 1995.

Jeff Fassero had a 13-hit complete-game loss for Seattle at the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 16, 1998.

New York tied the score in the eighth on three straight hits, including Edgardo Alfonzo's RBI double, but Guerrero hit his 26th homer in the bottom half off Mark Corey (0-2).

Cubs 6, Phillies 4

In Philadelphia, Matt Clement allowed two runs in 6 1-3 innings and Fred McGriff hit a three-run homer to lead Chicago over the Phillies.

The Cubs snapped a two-game losing streak, winning for the sixth time in nine games since Bruce Kimm replaced Don Baylor as manager.

The Phillies, who won five of six coming in, would have been within four games of .500 for the first time since May 13 if they won.

Clement (8-6) gave up five hits, struck out eight and walked four to win for the third time in four starts. He improved to 6-1 in nine games against Philadelphia.

All-Star Vicente Padilla (10-6) allowed five runs _ four earned _ and seven hits in six innings.

Astros 4, Brewers 2

In Milwaukee, Jeff Bagwell hit a tiebreaking two-run double off Jamey Wright (2-9) in the eighth inning as the Houston Astros beat the Brewers.

After the Astros tied it in the sixth, on RBI singles by Bagwell and Craig Biggio, the bullpen shut the Brewers down. The last 12 Brewers were retired in order.

Brandon Puffer relieved starter Pete Munro and struck out four of his five batters. Pedro Borbon (3-2) retired the only batter he faced in the seventh, Octavio Dotel pitched the eighth and Billy Wagner worked the ninth for his 17th save.

Milwaukee, which lost for the seventh time on its eight-game homestand, got a pair of RBI singles from Richie Sexson.

Wright fell to 0-8 in 13 starts against the Astros.

Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 4

In Denver, Juan Uribe broke a tie with a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning as Colorado defeated Arizona.

Larry Walker went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk as he improved his batting average to .349. Making his 100th career start, John Thomson allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings and Justin Speier (4-0) pitched a perfect seventh for the win.

Greg Swindell (0-1) took the loss.

Reds 7, Pirates 5

In Pittsburgh, Jason LaRue hit a grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning after an intentional walk, capping a five-run burst that carried Cincinnati past Pittsburgh.

Even after LaRue homered, the Reds still needed left fielder Russell Branyan's run-saving catch in Pittsburgh's three-run eighth to wrap up their fourth victory in five games. They stayed 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central.

Pittsburgh lost for the second time in eight games since the All-Star break.

Scott Sullivan (6-3) got the victory despite allowing three runs in the eighth. Danny Graves earned his 28th save in 34 chances.

Brian Boehringer (2-3) was the loser.

Padres 4, Dodgers 1

In Los Angeles, Brett Tomko came within four outs of his first career shutout and San Diego got solo home runs from Mark Kotsay and Phil Nevin to send sputtering Los Angeles to its eighth loss in nine games.

Tomko (5-6) allowed a run and five hits in eight innings. He also had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh that chased Dodgers starter Andy Ashby (7-8).

Los Angeles finally scored in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Dave Roberts, ending a 21-inning scoreless drought.

Trevor Hoffman got three outs for his 22nd save in 23 chances and San Diego's first three-game winning streak since May 12-15, when they won four straight.