NY METS 11, MILWAUKEE 10 (1ST GAME) ----------------------------------- FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- It seems Alex Ochoa can do no right in New York. Roger Cedeno apparently can do wrong. Ochoa easily was thrown out at the plate to end the game as the Mets escaped with an 11-10 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the first game of a doubleheader. New York took an 11-9 lead into the top of the ninth inning but Milwaukee had runners on first and second against John Franco. The Mets closer seemed to have the game in hand when he induced pinch-hitter Sean Berry to hit a popup to shallow right field. But second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo dropped the ball, allowing Marquis Grissom to score from second. Ochoa, whose Mets' career was marked by unfulfilled expectations, also tried to score but Cedeno alertly picked up the ball and fired a strike to catcher Mike Piazza, cutting down Ochoa without a slide. The wild finish overshadowed a breakout performance by New York left fielder Benny Agbayani, who went 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBI. Agbayani is 14-for-27 (.519) since being recalled from the minors last week. Mike Piazza added three hits, including a homer, for New York. The All-Star catcher has homered in three straight games, giving him seven this season. Mets starter Al Leiter (2-4) was tagged again, allowing six runs and nine hits over five innings. Franco's save was his 12th in as many chances. Milwaukee starter Jim Abbott (0-5) was saddled with the loss, despite leaving with a 6-5 lead in the fifth. He was done in by reliever Steve Falteisek, who surrendered three homers in 2 2/3. NY METS 10, MILWAUKEE 1 (2ND GAME) ---------------------------------- FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Robin Ventura became the first player in major league history to hit grand slams in each game of a doubleheader as the New York Mets completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 10-1 rout. Ventura hit his 11th career grand slam in the first inning of the first game, an 11-10 victory. He capped a six-run fourth inning in the nightcap with his eighth homer of the season and his 12 career grand slams are one behind Baltimore's Harold Baines, the active leader. The major league record for career grand slams is 23 by Lou Gehrig. New York got another great start out of the resurgent Masato Yoshii. The Japanese righthander allowed one run and eight hits over seven innings. His only mistake was a solo homer by Geoff Jenkins in the sixth. Yoshii (4-3) was on the verge of being removed from the Mets' five-man rotation after opening the season 1-3 and surrendering 17 runs over his first four starts. But he has rebounded nicely, going 3-0 and yielding only four runs in his last four outings. Milwaukee starter Steve Woodard was tagged for eight runs and eight hits over 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three before being ejected in the fourth by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt for arguing balls and strikes. Milwaukee manager Phil Garner also was ejected by Wendelstedt, getting tossed in the second after arguing a called strike three on Dave Nilsson. ST LOUIS 6, SAN DIEGO 4 ----------------------- SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Fernando Tatis and Eric Davis each drove in two runs and reliever Ricky Bottalico rebounded quickly from a disastrous outing to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-4 victory over the San Diego Padres. Tatis hit a two-run double and Davis belted a two-run homer in a four-run sixth inning that extended the Cardinals' lead to 5-0. Tatis left the game in the bottom of the inning when he bruised his left wrist fielding a ground ball. Bottalico walked all three batters he faced in the ninth on Wednesday as the Padres rallied for a 7-6 victory. He allowed two hits in 1 2/3 innings today but recorded his third save. Bottalico worked out of a jam in the ninth as the Padres had runners on second and third with two outs, but Tony Gwynn flied out to center. Mark McGwire put St. Louis in front in the fourth with his 10th homer, a solo shot off starter Sterling Hitchcock. It marked the second time this season that McGwire has homered in consecutive games. The homer was the seventh by McGwire in 11 games in San Diego. Kent Bottenfield (7-1) lasted 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and seven hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Bottenfield, who has won three straight starts, joins Philadelphia's Curt Schilling and Houston's Jose Lima as the only seven-game winners in the National League. Hitchcock (3-3) gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings. Gwynn was 0-for-5, marking only the seventh time all year that he has gone hitless and the fourth time he did not reach base. FLORIDA 4, PITTSBURGH 3 (14 INNINGS) ------------------------------------ MIAMI (Ticker) -- Derrek Lee's one-out single in the bottom of the 14th inning scored Cliff Floyd with the winning run as the Florida Marlins snapped their 11-game home losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates. Floyd drew a leadoff walk in the 14th against Mike Williams (1-1). After a groundout moved him to second, Mark Kotsay was intentionally walked. Lee followed by stroking a 1-1 pitch into right-center field, scoring Floyd without a throw. Reliever Antonio Alfonseca (1-4) notched the victory with three hitless innings for Florida, which had not won at Pro Player Stadium since blanking the Chicago Cubs, 8-0, on April 27. Williams tossed two scoreless innings before faltering in the 14th for Pittsburgh, which has lost seven straight road games. CHICAGO CUBS 6, ATLANTA 5 (12 INNINGS) -------------------------------------- ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Lance Johnson's sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning scored Benito Santiago with the go-ahead run as the Chicago Cubs blew a five-run lead before defeating the Atlanta Braves, 6-5. Santiago led off the 12th with a single off Kevin McGlinchey (2-1), the sixth Braves' pitcher. McGlinchey fielded Curtis Goodwin's bunt but threw wildly to first, putting runners at second and third. Johnson flied to left, scoring Santiago without a play and putting the Cubs ahead. Gerald Williams smacked a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth for Atlanta to force extra innings. Sammy Sosa and Mark Grace belted solo homers in the first inning off Greg Maddux, who continued to struggle and is winless in his last four starts. Dan Serafini (1-0) allowed one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, Chicago's sixth in the last seven games. Brian Jordan knocked in two runs for Atlanta, which had a four-game winning streak stopped and lost for the first time in 20 games this season when scoring at least five runs. After going 4-0 in April, Maddux is 0-3 in four starts in May and has been roughed up for 18 runs -- 17 earned -- and 45 hits in 24 1/3 innings, raising his ERA to 5.02. COLORADO 8, ARIZONA 4 --------------------- DENVER (Ticker) -- Kurt Abbott went 3-for-4, falling a triple short of the cycle, with two RBI as the Colorado Rockies took advantage of shoddy defense by the Arizona Diamondbacks for an 8-4 victory. Abbott broke out of a 1-for-18 slump and helped Colorado break a three-game losing streak and a four-game home skid. The game was tied, 1-1, in the fourth inning when Abbott laced a double to the right center-field gap, scoring Dante Bichette. The Rockies doubled the lead when shortstop Andy Fox threw wildly trying to nail Vinny Castilla at the plate. Pitcher Darryl Kile hit a grounder back to the mound but Randy Johnson bobbled it, allowing Abbott to score for a 4-1 advantage. Bichette cracked his seventh homer of the season with two outs in the fifth. Second baseman Jay Bell committed Arizona's third error later in the inning when he caught Abbott in a rundown but threw the ball into the dugout, scoring Castilla. Abbott drilled a 448 foot shot to center field in the seventh inning for his first home run of the season and an 8-3 Rockies lead. It was his first homer since September 14, 1998 against Los Angeles. Colorado's Larry Walker entered in the eighth innings as a defensive replacement but did not bat, thus preserving his 20-game hitting streak. It is the third longest streak in club history behind Bichette (23) and Castilla (22). Kile (3-3) had the unenviable task of pitching one night after the Rockies allowed 24 runs and a franchise-record 28 hits against Cincinnati. He earned his second win in the last seven outings and first since April 29 allowing three runs and six hits over seven innings with five strikeouts. The Rockies improved to 11-3 when its starters throw at least seven innings. Johnson's (4-2) first career appearance at Coors Field was anything but memorable. In six innings, he surrendered seven runs -- four earned -- and nine hits with seven strikeouts snapping his personal three-game winnings streak. HOUSTON 4, LOS ANGELES 3 (10 INNINGS) ------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Derek Bell doubled home Craig Biggio with the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning as the Houston Astros blew a ninth-inning lead before pulling out a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Biggio drew a leadoff walk from Jeff Shaw (1-2) to start the 10th. Bell followed by lacing a 1-1 pitch into the right-center field gap that scored Biggio without a play. Ken Caminiti added a sacrifice fly for a much-needed insurance run. Houston closer Billy Wagner (1-1), who allowed a tying homer to Tripp Cromer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, surrendered a two-out homer to Raul Mondesi in the 10th. Carl Everett belted a solo homer for the Astros, who have won seven of their last nine games. Mondesi went 3-for-5 and Eric Young had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles, which has dropped four of its last five.  