NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Saberhagen Can’t Stop Marlins’ Comeback

Things looked pretty good for the Colorado Rockies going into the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Miami. They had a 4-1 lead and Bret Saberhagen on the mound.

But the Rockies ended up losing, 5-4, to the Florida Marlins in 13 innings.

Saberhagen, in his second start for the Rockies since being acquired from the New York Mets last week, had given up only six hits through eight innings. But he loaded the bases on two hits and a hit batsman before Darren Holmes relieved with no outs.

Steve Decker singled in one run, and Holmes threw a wild pitch with Alex Arias batting to make it 4-3. Arias followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

In the 13th, Chuck Carr’s double scored Terry Pendleton.

Buddy Groom (1-0) earned his first National League win in his first game with the Marlins.

In the fifth, Saberhagen hit catcher Charles Johnson with a pitch. Johnson is expected to miss at least a week because of a hairline fracture.

Atlanta 5, Cincinnati 4--In a matchup of the National League’s two best teams at Atlanta, pitcher John Smoltz overcame a shaky start to help the Braves end the Reds’ six-game winning streak.

Smoltz (9-5), who had only one victory in his previous seven starts, allowed three runs on three hits in the first inning, but limited the Reds to one run and three hits over the next six.

Pittsburgh 9, San Francisco 5--Jeff King became the first Pirate in 101 years to hit two homers in one inning as Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the second to win at San Francisco.

King led off the second with his 10th homer of the season and added a solo shot for the Pirates’ eighth run of the inning.

King is the 16th player in National League history to homer twice in an inning.

San Diego 3, Chicago 1--Joey Hamilton scattered eight hits over 6 2/3 innings and hit an RBI single at Chicago as the Cubs beat the Padres. Hamilton (5-5) was relieved by Doug Bochtler after giving up a two-out single in the seventh inning to Brian McRae.

Trevor Hoffman loaded the bases in the ninth before getting Shawon Dunston to line out for his 19th save.

Montreal 6, Houston 0--Moises Alou ended an 0-for-14 skid with a three-run homer in the seventh inning at Houston, and Gil Heredia earned his first victory in more than two months.

Heredia (4-5), who hadn’t started since July 7, held Houston to three hits over five innings for his first victory since May 31.

New York 12, Philadelphia 10--Carl Everett drove in a career-high five runs and reached base six times as the Mets won in Philadelphia, extending the Phillies’ losing streak to six games.