Beltre’s clutch homers carry Dodgers past Atlanta

Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004 | 7:35 a.m.

Adrian Beltre is carrying the Los Angeles Dodgers with one clutch homer after another.

On the biggest night of his breakout season, Beltre hit a tying home run off closer John Smoltz in the ninth inning on Friday and a game-winning shot in the 11th to give Los Angeles a 3-2 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves.

The multitalented third baseman, curiously left off the NL All-Star team last month, took over the major league lead with 38 home runs.

"There was one guy on that field that was going to beat us," Atlanta slugger Chipper Jones said. "Adrian Beltre right now gets my vote for MVP. I mean, that team would not be in first place without him."

Beltre also had an RBI double in the fourth and is batting .330 with a career-high 87 RBIs.

"Everything is going his way," Dodgers pitcher Jose Lima said. "A lot of people tried to give up on him during his career, but now he's proving himself. He's matured a lot at home plate. I have a lot of respect for the man because he's played hurt all year and he hasn't made any excuses."

In other NL games, it was: San Francisco 7, New York 3; Chicago 9, Houston 2; San Diego 6, Florida 1; Philadelphia 4, Milwaukee 2; Montreal 4, Colorado 3; and Cincinnati 2, Arizona 0. St. Louis swept a doubleheader from Pittsburgh, 5-4 and 5-3.

Beltre drove a 2-2 pitch from Juan Cruz (4-1) into the left-field pavilion with one out in the 11th, capping his second two-homer game in two nights and snapping the Dodgers' two-game losing streak.

"It feels good, but it's not my main thing. My main thing is to help this team get to the playoffs," Beltre said. "After those last two losses, we really needed this one."

Giovanni Carrara (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, evening the four-game series between NL division leaders at 1-all.

All-Star closer Eric Gagne allowed an RBI single by Adam LaRoche that put the Braves ahead 2-1 with one out in the ninth.

"I've been having a little trouble with my mechanics, just a couple of things I have to tune up a little bit," Gagne said.

Lima and Atlanta starter John Thomson each allowed one run.

"We outpitched them, we outhit them and played good defense. Unfortunately, we made too many mistakes to Adrian Beltre," Jones said.

"It's amazing what happens when a player realizes that there's another half of the field. Adrian used to be like that. He used to be strictly up the middle and pull, and now he's realizing that there's a nice big field over there in right and he's utilizing it."

Cubs 9, Astros 2

At Houston, Sammy Sosa and Nomar Garciaparra each hit one of Chicago's season-high six homers, and Glendon Rusch (6-1) pitched seven strong innings to end Houston's four-game winning streak.

Mark Grudzielanek homered twice, and Moises Alou and Corey Patterson each had a two-run shot.

Giants 7, Mets 3

At San Francisco, Pedro Feliz homered twice, Edgardo Alfonzo connected off Steve Trachsel (10-10), and the Giants snapped a seven-game losing streak against New York.

Rookie Noah Lowry (3-0) had a career-high 10 strikeouts and won his third straight decision. Barry Bonds went 3-for-4 with a double to help San Francisco maintain a half-game lead in the wild-card race.

Padres 6, Marlins 1

At San Diego, Brian Lawrence (12-10) pitched a five-hitter to match his career high for wins, and Ramon Hernandez hit a three-run homer. NL hits leader Mark Loretta homered off Dontrelle Willis (9-9) and scored three runs.

Cardinals 5, Pirates 4, 1st game

Cardinals 5, Pirates 3, 2nd game

At St. Louis, Scott Rolen became the third Cardinals player to hit 30 homers this season, and Chris Carpenter (13-5) set a career best for wins, leading St. Louis to a day-night doubleheader sweep.

In the opener, Dan Haren (2-2) allowed three hits in 6 2-3 innings, then was optioned to Triple-A. St. Louis swept a doubleheader for the first time since Aug. 31, 2002, at Chicago and has won 13 of 17 games overall.

Rolen, Albert Pujols (37) and Jim Edmonds (31) give the Cardinals three players with 30 homers in one season for the first time. Jason Isringhausen saved both games, giving him a career-high 35.

Reds 2, Diamondbacks 0

At Phoenix, Randy Johnson (12-11) struck out 14 for the second straight game and joined Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (215) as the only pitchers to reach double digits 200 times, yet still wound up with a loss.

Cincinnati won with an unearned run in the first inning and Barry Larkin's RBI single in the eighth. Luke Hudson (1-1) won his second career start.

Phillies 4, Brewers 2

At Milwaukee, Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu homered, and Eric Milton (13-2) pitched seven solid innings to end Philadelphia's seven-game losing streak.

Expos 4, Rockies 3

At Denver, Tony Batista hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth and had three RBIs for Montreal, which overcame a scary injury to first baseman Nick Johnson.

Royce Clayton's shot took an odd bounce and hit Johnson between his right cheek and jaw. He lay on the field for about 10 minutes before being rolled over, then was strapped to a stretcher and carted off the field about five minutes later. He never lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital for X-rays.