Monday, May 06, 2002
NL roundup
Berkman keeps pace with elite sluggers
By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer
Lance Berkman might be more than just a long shot in this year's home run race.
For more than a month, the Houston Astros outfielder has kept pace with Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and the rest of baseball's elite sluggers.
Berkman homered twice Sunday to tie Sosa for the major league lead with 13, sending the Astros to a 12-1 rout of the New York Mets.
“Check with me in September and we'll see who's still up there,” Berkman said. “I'm not anything like Bonds or Sosa.”
Except in the batter's box.
The 26-year-old switch-hitter ripped a solo homer and a three-run shot for his second multihomer game this season and the ninth of his career.
Berkman, who hit .331 with 34 homers in an All-Star season last year, also drove in a run with a double and leads the majors with 35 RBIs. He went 3-for-5 Sunday to raise his average above .300 for the first time this season at .301.
“Sometimes the swing is there. Sometimes it's not,” Berkman said. “It's kind of frustrating. It's just been peaks and valleys this year. I just want to be consistent, and that hasn't been the case. I'm tinkering with my stance and swing all the time. I went up there with five different approaches and I only felt comfortable twice.”
In other NL games, it was: San Francisco 6, Cincinnati 5 in 10 innings; Atlanta 4, St. Louis 2; Chicago 3, Los Angeles 0; Philadelphia 7, Colorado 4; Florida 7, Milwaukee 4; Arizona 5, Montreal 2; and San Diego 6, Pittsburgh 5.
This is not the first time Berkman has put up eye-popping numbers. In 1997 at Rice, he hit 41 home runs with 134 RBIs in 63 games. He was drafted No. 16 overall by the Astros that spring.
Five years later, Berkman's quickly becoming one of the most feared hitters in the NL.
“He's a great hitter,” Mets pitcher Al Leiter said. “And he's going to get better. It's not a surprise. We stop on his name and talk about him extensively when we're going through the scouting report.”
In the worst of his seven starts this season, Leiter (3-2) gave up five runs — four earned — five hits, two walks and a hit batter in four innings. His ERA rose from an NL-best 0.92 to 1.67.
Roy Oswalt (4-1) combined with two relievers on a four-hitter. Houston matched a season high with 15 hits and scored the most runs against the Mets this season.
Braves 4, Cardinals 2
Greg Maddux (3-2) pitched six shutout innings, Andruw Jones homered off Darryl Kile (1-2) and Atlanta took two of three at Busch Stadium despite scoring just eight runs.
The Cardinals have lost 14 of 20 and scored six runs in 34 innings.
Gary Sheffield broke a long slump with three hits for the Braves, and John Smoltz got his 11th save.
Cubs 3, Dodgers 0
Mark Bellhorn homered and drove in three runs as Chicago won at Dodger Stadium despite losing starting pitcher Matt Clement to an injury after four hitless innings.
Five Cubs pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout. The Dodgers were blanked for the sixth time this season, most in the majors.
Clement couldn't get out of the way of Kevin Brown's fastball in the fifth and sustained a bruised right biceps. Brown (1-3) lost his second consecutive start since coming off the disabled list, allowing three runs in seven innings.
Phillies 7, Rockies 4
Reserves Tomas Perez and Jason Michaels each had three hits in support of Vicente Padilla (4-2) as Philadelphia won at home for its first three-game winning streak this season.
Mike Hampton (1-4) gave up six runs on eight hits in six innings.
Marlins 7, Brewers 4
Charles Johnson hit his first home run this year, and A.J. Burnett (5-2) doubled twice at Miller Park to help himself win for the fourth time in five starts.
Diamondbacks 5, Expos 2
Luis Gonzalez homered and Junior Spivey drove in three runs as Arizona completed a three-game sweep at Bank One Ballpark, winning its fourth straight.
The Expos, swept for the first time this season, lost the last four of their six-game road trip. Javier Vazquez (1-2) allowed just three hits until the seventh.
Byung-Hyun Kim, pitching for the fifth straight day, struck out all three in the ninth for his eighth save in as many chances.
Padres 6, Pirates 5
Light-hitting catcher Tom Lampkin had a two-run triple, and Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin each had three hits to back Brian Lawrence (4-1).
The host Padres took two of three and have won eight of 11. Trevor Hoffman got his 11th save in as many opportunities.
Reliever Sean Lowe (1-1), making an emergency start for injured Dave Williams, lasted 3 1-3 innings. Pittsburgh has lost nine of 12.
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