San Diego beats Colorado 4-2
Brown becomes first Padres pitcher since 1985 to notch 18 wins
Posted: Saturday September 05, 1998 09:25 PM
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Finley (left) went 3-for-4 including a two-run homer, as the Padres tied the Braves for top record in the NL AP |
DENVER (AP) -- Feeling lousy didn't slow down Kevin Brown.
Brown became the first San Diego pitcher to win 18 games since 1985 and
the Padres reduced their magic number for clinching the NL West to six by
beating the Colorado
Rockies 4-2 Saturday.
"I got the flu on Monday and tried to put it out of my mind," Brown said.
"If you can do that when you feel badly, you have a chance to succeed."
Brown (18-5) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, striking
out five and walking four. He also broke a 2-all tie with a sixth-inning
double.
"Kevin wasn't himself, but went out and gave us a great effort," San
Diego manager Bruce Bochy said. "We got a break in the sixth inning and Steve Finley
took advantage of it."
San Diego hadn't had an 18-game winner since Andy Hawkins went 18-8 in
1985. The Padres (91-51) matched their 1996 victory total and moved within
one of the franchise record set in 1984, when they made their only trip to
the World Series.
"I was lucky from the standpoint that the times I have felt badly, it has
been a matter of fighting through that," said Brown who has pitched after
root canal and played with bruised shins. "I had one inning (the fourth)
where I had trouble with the strike zone. I tried everything I could to get
the ball over the plate and got out of it."
Finley, went 3-for-4 including a two-run homer, and Quilvio Veras
went 2-for-4 with a walk.
Trevor
Hoffman got three outs for his 46th save. After Colorado loaded the
bases with two outs in the ninth, Vinny
Castilla flied out.
Darryl Kile
(10-16) allowed four runs -- just one earned -- and eight hits in seven
innings. He is 4-8 at Coors Field this season.
Larry
Walker went 1-for-2 with three walks. His .345 average is two points
ahead of the New York
Mets' John
Olerud in the NL batting race.
Mike
Lansing's two-run single put Colorado ahead in the fourth, but San
Diego took advantage of a pair of fielding mistakes in the sixth. Darryl
Hamilton misplayed Greg Vaughn's
liner into a double and, one pitch before Finley's home run, catcher Jeff Reed dropped
a foul popup behind home plate.
"A lot of times a foul tip with two strikes gets dropped and you alawya
wonder what is going to happen bad after that," Colorado manager Don
Baylor. "This dropped foul popup was that foul tip today."
Finley followed with his 13th homer.
"I never saw the ball off the bat," Reed said. "When that happens, you
know you are in trouble."
Mark
Sweeney doubled, Kile retired Carlos
Hernandez, then intentionally walked Chris Gomez. The
strategy backfired when Brown chopped a 3-2 fastball past third base for a
two-run single.
"I had a chance to get out of the inning with really no damage," Kile
said. "I should have gotten Finely out and they battled back to get four
runs."
Notes: Tony Gwynn wore
turf shoes to relieve the pain on his sore left Achilles' tendon. He struck
out for the 15th time this year. ... Wally Joyner
will sit out the final game of the series to rest his left shoulder. ...
Chris Gomez has a career-high 14-game hitting streak.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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