A One-Hitter for Dempster Against Mets

Ryan Dempster lost his no-hit bid, but kept his composure.

Dempster pitched a one-hitter, yielding only a sixth-inning double by Mike Piazza, for his first shutout as the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Mets, 3-0, Sunday at Miami.

Dempster, a 23-year-old right-hander, struck out eight and walked four.

He had struck out five of the previous six hitters before Piazza’s two-out double, which came on a long liner past the outstretched glove of left fielder Cliff Floyd.

“If Cliff would have caught it, I would have run out and given him a big hug,” Dempster (3-2) said. “But the sixth inning is way too early to be thinking about a no-hitter.

“It was important I didn’t let myself feel down about it. My next pitch to [Robin] Ventura was a changeup for a swing and a miss. I knew then I was going to stay on my game.”

Ventura grounded out.

Dempster finished with the fifth one-hitter in club history and his first complete game.

His previous longest outing was eight innings, done four times. His low-hit game was four, accomplished in the Marlins’ 2-1 victory over Colorado on Aug. 8, 1999.

“He just pitched fantastic,” Marlin Manager John Boles said. “We think that he’s going to be around for a while. We’re looking at a future 20-game winner. It’s just a matter of experience.”

In addition to the five one-hit or less complete games by Al Leiter, Kevin Brown, Pat Rapp, Alex Fernandez and Dempster, the Marlins’ John Johnstone, Robb Nen and Rapp combined for a one-hitter against Colorado on July 9, 1994 in a 4-2 victory.

Arizona 8, San Diego 1--Pitching with a torn rotator cuff, Todd Stottlemyre yielded only one run for the second consecutive outingand allowed seven hits in 5 2/3 innings at Phoenix as the Diamondbacks won their fourth in a row.

Stottlemyre (6-1) struck out seven, his most in two seasons with Arizona.

Luis Gonzalez broke out of a two for 25 slump with a single and a two-run double during a seven-run fifth inning that helped the Diamondbacks complete a three-game sweep.

Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 4--The Phillies became the first visiting team to win a series at Turner Field this season.

Last-place Philadelphia came to Atlanta 11 games behind the first-place Braves in the Eastern Division. Then the Phillies squandered a ninth-inning lead Friday night.

But they bounced back to win two in a row.

Mike Lieberthal hit a two-run homer and pitcher Andy Ashby helped himself with a two-run single on Sunday.

Atlanta, which set a franchise record with 12 consecutive home victories, lost two in a row for only the second time this season.

Milwaukee 9, Montreal 4--Jose Hernandez homered and had a two-run single as the Brewers broke out of their slump.

Milwaukee, which entered the game with a team batting average of .227--worst in the majors--ended a losing streak at three games and had the biggest offensive outburst of its 10-game home stand, which the Brewers finished 3-7.

Milwaukee had two-run hits from Ron Belliard, Hernandez and Kevin Barker to take a 7-2 lead after four innings.

Cincinnati 9, St. Louis 7--Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run homer to complete a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning and provided the final lead change in a game that turned on homers.

Trailing, 7-5, the Reds sent eight batters to the plate against Darren Holmes, who was making his first appearance since the Cardinals signed him as a free agent Thursday.

After Pokey Reese’s run-scoring groundout tied the score, Holmes walked Alex Ochoa and went to a full count on Griffey, who pulled the next pitch over the wall in right-center field.

Eric Davis hit his 11th grand slam off Denny Neagle (3-0) as St. Louis overcame a three-run deficit to lead, 6-3, in the fifth inning. Neagle also gave up a solo homer to Eli Marrero.

Colorado at San Francisco, rain--It took rain to slow the surging Giants, who have won six games in a row. No makeup date was set.

The rainout was only the 29th in San Francisco since the Giants moved west in 1958, but the second since the team began playing in Pacific Bell Park this season.