Rockies stop Benes' streak

The Colorado Rockies ended Andy Benes' 10-game winning streakWednesday as Eric Young and Ellis Burks combined for seven of theteam's 18 hits and five RBI in a 10-2 rout of the visiting St. LouisCardinals.

The defeat prevented the Cardinals from taking over the Centrallead from the Houston Astros, who had lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates5-2 earlier in the day. The Cardinals still trail the Astros by ahalf-game.

Benes (13-9), who gave up seven runs and 13 hits in 2 2/3innings, absorbed his first loss since June 13 and failed to get pastthe fifth for the first time in his last 20 starts. By the time heleft the game, every Rockies starter except Walt Weiss had a hit.

Pirates 5, Astros 2: Jeff King tied his career high with fourhits to help Pittsburgh trip host Houston and snap a five-game losingstreak.

The Pirates, who had lost eight consecutive games on the road,handed Mike Hampton (10-8) his first loss in five decisions sinceJuly 23. The Astros committed three errors to aid the Pirates'cause.

Denny Neagle (13-6), who had been 0-2 with three no-decisions inhis last five starts, notched his first victory since July 21 byscattering six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Padres 7, Expos 2: Ken Caminiti set a franchise record for homeruns in a month (12) and the National League mark for round-trippersby a switch hitter in a month (12) by hitting one from each side ofthe plate and driving in four runs to fuel host San Diego pastMontreal. Caminiti has six home runs in his last six games and 29for the season.

Braves 4, Reds 3: Pinch hitter Luis Polonia's sacrifice fly inthe ninth inning boosted host Atlanta past Cincinnati for its sixthconsecutive victory. The Braves' Marquis Grissom doubled in theseventh to extend his hitting streak to 25 games.

Phillies 6, Dodgers 0: Curt Schilling (6-6) pitched a two-hitterand tied his career high with 12 strikeouts, and Scott Rolen hit hisfirst two major-league home runs to power visiting Philadelphia pastLos Angeles.

Giants 12, Mets 11: Jay Canizaro's grand slam capped a seven-runfirst inning as host San Francisco jumped out to a 9-0 lead, thenheld on to nip New York. Giants star Barry Bonds suffered a mildstrain of his left hamstring in the ninth and is day-to-day.