Braves End Garciaparra’s Streak at 30

Nomar Garciaparra got hits against Randy Johnson, Kevin Appier, Brad Radke and John Smoltz during a 30-game hitting streak. Then he ran into Kevin Millwood and Mike Cather.

The two Atlanta rookies stopped Garciaparra’s streak Saturday at Boston, leaving him with the AL rookie record, but preserving Benito Santiago’s major league rookie mark of 34.

Fred McGriff homered twice as the Braves continued to exact their revenge on the team that chased them out of Boston, beating the Red Sox, 15-2.

“I’m more upset that we lost 15-2. We got spanked,” said Garciaparra, who kicked first base and walked back to the dugout with his head down after lining out in his final at-bat. “We didn’t get too many hits as a team, so you’ve got to give them credit.”

Millwood (3-3) shut down the best-hitting team in baseball and its hottest hitter, getting Garciaparra to hit three fly balls, one of them a sacrifice. Cather got Garciaparra to line out to left in the eighth.

“I think what he’s accomplished since April, maybe since spring training, is more impressive than the 30 games,” Boston Manager Jimy Williams said.

Montreal 7, New York Yankees 2--Paul O’Neill reached up, a fan reached out and Montreal’s Darrin Fletcher circled the bases. This time, the right-field railing at Yankee Stadium took one away from the home team.

Pedro Martinez pitched a five-hitter and Fletcher hit a three-run homer, thanks to help from a fan, leading the visiting Expos.

Rondell White had three hits, including a two-run homer, as the Expos improved baseball’s best interleague record to 9-2 with their second consecutive victory over the world champions.

Fletcher’s three-run homer in the second against David Wells (14-8) provided some controversy.

David Segui and White hit singles to open the second. Fletcher then sent an 0-1 pitch to right that O’Neill seemed to have lined up as he approached the wall.

O’Neill timed his leap perfectly but came down empty-handed as a fan pulled the ball over the wall.

As first-base umpire Mike Reilly signaled home run, O’Neill threw his arms up in disgust and yelled toward the young man, who celebrated his catch before being ejected by stadium security.

“I was 100% sure I was going to catch it,” O’Neill said. “There’s no way he [Reilly] can make the call. He’s too far away.”

Minnesota 4, Cincinnati 1--Ron Coomer atoned for a two-error third inning with a two-run homer in the sixth to lead the Twins at Minneapolis.

The 417-foot drive to center field, which followed Paul Molitor’s two-out, tiebreaking RBI single, was Coomer’s ninth homer but his first in 221 at-bats, a drought that came after he hit 25 in his first 503 major league at-bats.

Philadelphia 2, Detroit 0--Matt Beech pitched 7 2/3 innings of six-hit ball at Detroit and the Phillies ended a nine-game interleague losing streak.

Beech (3-8) hadn’t won since Aug. 8, 1996 before beating Colorado on Aug. 12 this year. Now the left-hander has won three of four starts.

“I’ve felt good on the mound the past few starts and felt like I can give the team a chance to win when I go out there,” Beech said. “There are still a lot of things I’m trying to improve on. But I’ve made a concerted effort to bear down and make good pitches.”

Chicago White Sox 9, Houston 2--Jason Bere’s back, even if his best fastball isn’t. He has won three consecutive games for the White Sox by pitching, not trying to overpower hitters.

“I don’t have my regular fastball, but there are many different ways to win in the big leagues,” Bere said.

Bere gave up only two hits--both homers--in six-plus innings at Chicago. He is 3-0 since he came off the disabled list Aug. 19. He made only five starts a season ago before undergoing elbow surgery.

Florida 4, Toronto 1--Alex Fernandez was almost perfect against the Blue Jays at Toronto. In fact, throw out Shawn Green and a walk to Benito Santiago, and he was.

Fernandez gave up three hits--all to Green--in eight innings as the Marlins moved a franchise-record 24 games over .500.

“I was thinking of throwing my glove and the ball at him,” Fernandez said. “It’s a good thing there weren’t more Shawn Greens on that team.”

Fernandez (17-9), only 4-5 despite a 1.87 earned-run average in 16 career starts against the Blue Jays while pitching for the White Sox, gave up one run.

Chicago Cubs 9, Cleveland 4--Maybe Mark Grace was imagining it. Heck, he could have sworn those were “Let’s go Cubbies” chants coming from Chicago’s South Side.

The lowly Cubs did the White Sox a favor by beating up on the first-place team in the AL Central.

Looking like an AL-style juggernaut with 15 hits, the Cubs’ victory at Cleveland helped give the third-place White Sox hope of catching up in the Central race.

“I think for the first time in like a century, people on the South Side of Chicago are actually rooting for the Cubs,” said Grace, who hit a solo homer and RBI triple as the Cubs evened the series at one game each.

Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 1--Mark Smith went four for four with a homer and a double and Jon Lieber pitched five-hit ball over seven innings to lead the visiting Pirates.

Lieber (9-12) limited the Brewers to three hits after Mike Matheny’s RBI single in the second. He struck out seven and walked one to end Pittsburgh’s three-game losing streak.

Rich Loiselle pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 27th opportunities,

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Fred McGriff

Team: Atlanta

Performance: 4 for 5, 2 HR, 5 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Jermaine Dye

Team: Kansas City

Performance: 3 for 5, 2 HR, 5 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: J.T. Snow

Team: San Francisco

Performance: 2 for 4, 2 HR, 4 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

*

PITCHING

Player: Alex Fernandez

Team: Florida

Performance: 8 innings, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Matt Beech

Team: Philadelphia

Performance: 7 2/3 innings, 6 hits, no runs, 7 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Pedro Martinez

Team: Montreal

Performance: 9 innings, 5 hits, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk

Team’s Result: Win