Pirates Slam Benes, Cards

The Pittsburgh Pirates tied a major-league record for most grandslams in a game when Orlando Merced and Jay Bell both connectedTuesday night in a 13-3 victory over the host St. Louis Cardinals.

Merced's slam highlighted a six-run first inning, and Bell'sslam in the sixth made it 12-0. Merced finished with five RBI, andJeff King had four of Pittsburgh's 20 hits.

Several teams have hit two slams in a game. The feat was lastaccomplished Sept. 5, when Robin Ventura hit a pair of slams for theWhite Sox.Zane Smith (2-0) pitched six innings and helped himself with anRBI single in the first. Jon Lieber worked three innings for hisfirst save in the majors.Andy Benes (1-1) was tagged for seven runs on 12 hits in fiveinnings. Opponents were hitting a league-low .145 against Benesbefore the Pirates went to work.Expos 7, Phillies 6: Moises Alou singled home the winning runwith two outs in the ninth inning and host Montreal overcame an earlyfive-run deficit to beat Philadelphia.Mark Grudzielanek singled off Russ Springer (0-1) leading offthe ninth, and Mike Lansing sacrificed. Rondell White flied tocenter and Alou singled to left, making a winner of Mel Rojas (3-0),who pitched a perfect ninth.Braves 5, Marlins 2: Ryan Klesko hit his seventh homer, atwo-run drive in the second inning that sparked host Atlanta pastreeling Florida.Klesko, who didn't hit his seventh homer last season until June26, connected for a 405-foot drive off Kevin Brown (0-3) as Atlantagot back to .500 at 7-7.Astros 9, Mets 6: Houston used left fielder Butch Huskey's errorand three stolen bases to score five runs in the fifth inning at NewYork.Orlando Miller homered and had three hits for Houston, whichtook a 6-0 lead into the seventh.Todd Hundley hit a three-run homer and Jeff Kent followed with ahomer during a five-run seventh that closed the Mets to 6-5.Giants 5, Dodgers 3: Pinch hitter Mel Hall's sacrifice flycapped a four-run seventh inning, and Barry Bonds homered in theeighth as host San Francisco rallied past Los Angeles.Padres 10, Rockies 6: Andy Ashby tamed his former teammates withhis arm and taunted them with his bat, going 4-for-4 to lead SanDiego over Colorado in Denver.