Astros set season highs against Phillies

HOUSTON -- Geoff Blum had three doubles and a career-high five RBIs as the Houston Astros set season highs for runs and hits in a 17-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Astros finished with 20 hits, but no home runs. They scored eight times in the eighth inning, prompting Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa to bring in third baseman Tomas Perez to pitch with two outs.

After Jeff Bagwell reached on an error, Perez got rookie Jason Lane on a flyball to end the inning. Perez became the first Phillies position player to pitch since first baseman Glenn Wilson in 1987.

Reds 5, Brewers 0

MILWAUKEE -- Jose Rijo, pitching on his 37th birthday, threw five scoreless innings and rookie Austin Kearns homered and drove in three runs as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers.

Barry Larkin had three hits and scored three runs as Cincinnati ended the Brewers' three-game winning streak.

Diamondbacks 11, Pirates 0

PITTSBURGH -- Curt Schilling pitched seven shutout innings to become the majors' first eight-game winner, and Luis Gonzalez drove in four runs as Arizona ruined Kris Benson's return to the mound.

Schilling (8-1) was smooth and efficient -- or everything Benson wasn't -- in beating the Pirates for the second time in six days.

Rockies 7, Marlins 3

DENVER -- Denny Stark (1-0) came up from the minors to pitch six shutout innings in his Colorado debut, and pinch-hitter Greg Norton had a grand slam.

The Rockies won their seventh straight at Coors Field, where they are using baseballs stored in a humidor in an effort to prevent them from flying so far in the thin air.

Twins 3, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- David Ortiz, in his first game since coming off the disabled list, doubled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning as the Twins overcame an injury to Brad Radke.

Radke allowed only one hit in the first two innings, then was taken out because of pulled right groin muscle.

Ortiz had missed 18 games following surgery to remove a bone chip in his left knee and was activated just before the game. He doubled off the wall in right-center field against Jason Grimsley (1-2) as Doug Mientkiewicz scored all the way from first.

J.C. Romero (3-0) pitched 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief for the victory that put the Twins ahead of the Royals 241-240 in the all-time series.

Noteworthy

EXPOS: Andres Galarraga got the best news possible Monday: the back pain he's been feeling is not a reoccurrence of cancer.

"He sounds like a man who has been relieved of a tremendous burden," said Montreal Expos assistant general manager Tony Siegle, who spoke with Galarraga by phone after the team received results of a biopsy taken Sunday. "He's ready to start playing again."

The 40-year-old Galarraga, who missed the entire 1999 season while undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, has been on the disabled list since May 2 with pain in his lower back, near the spot where a cancerous tumor was discovered shortly before spring training 1999.

METS: Reliever John Franco, out for the season because of an injured left elbow, has decided to go through with reconstructive elbow surgery in an attempt to prolong his 18-year career.

ROYALS: General manager Allard Baird had a meeting set up Monday night with owner David Glass amid signs the team is very close to naming a manager. The new manager is expected to be announced by Thursday.

-- From wire reports