Loewer makes impressive major league debut

Carlton Loewer's first major league game was a complete success.

Loewer became the first pitcher to throw a complete game in his big league debut since 1993, tossing a five-hitter as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 Sunday.

The 24-year-old right-hander struck out eight and walked none. During one stretch, he retired 14 straight batters.

"It's a pretty nice day for this organization," Phillies manager Terry Francona said. "He pitched as advertised. It's only one start, but this performance certainly was a bright spot for this team."

With his parents watching at Veterans Stadium, the 6-foot-6 Loewer became the first pitcher to throw a complete game in his major league debut since Boston's Nate Minchey beat Cleveland 11-1 on Sept. 12, 1993. The last NL pitcher to do it was Tim Wakefield, who led Pittsburgh over St. Louis 3-2 on July 31, 1992.

Loewer, called up from Triple-A Scranton on June 9, kept the Cubs off balance with a consistent fastball and an impressive changeup.

"My changeup has become my most important pitch and I got a lot of outs on it today," said Loewer, the first Phillies pitcher to throw a complete game in his big league debut since Larry Christenson in 1973. "I have a lot of confidence in my stuff. I just needed to keep the ball down and stay ahead of the hitters."

Loewer, the Phillies' first-round draft pick in 1994, was 7-3 with a 2.87 ERA in 12 starts for Scranton this season. That was a big turnaround from last year, when he went 5-13 for the same team.

"You learn a lot from losing, and I learned a lot from last season," Loewer said. "I feel I have a lot more concentration out on the mound this season."

The Phillies broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Doug Glanville and Gregg Jefferies doubled with two outs. Glanville extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

In other NL games, it was Atlanta 5, Montreal 1; Houston 6, Cincinnati 3 in 10 innings; Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 2; St. Louis 2, Arizona 0; San Diego 3, San Francisco 2; Colorado 3, Los Angeles 2 in 12 innings; and Florida 5, New York 4.

Braves 5, Expos 1

Kevin Millwood pitched a four-hitter and Bobby Cox tied Frank Selee as the winningest manager in Braves history.

Cox's record during two stints as Braves manager improved to 1,004-819. Selee won 1,004 games from 1890-1901 when the Braves were in their original city, Boston.

Millwood (9-2) joined teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux as the NL's top winners.

Pirates 7, Brewers 2

Mark Smith, Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Young homered in the first three innings as Pittsburgh finally mounted some offense against Milwaukee.

The Pirates had scored only six runs in four consecutive losses to the Brewers until homering three times off Steve Woodard (3-5), who had allowed only two homers in 13 previous appearances.

Pirates starter Chris Peters (2-4) went on to retire the side in order in five of the six innings he pitched, needing only 56 pitches in his longest start of the season.

Astros 6, Reds 3, 10 innings

The Houston Astros tied the game with two runs off Jeff Shaw in the ninth and won it with three more off him in the 10th.

Bill Spiers started the tying rally with a leadoff double in the ninth and hit a two-run homer off Shaw (1-4) in the 10th, his fourth hit of the game.

Shaw, who had not given up an earned run in his previous 18 appearances spanning 25 1-3 innings, gave up seven hits, a walk and five runs in two innings.

Cardinals 2, Diamondbacks 0

Royce Clayton singled twice and scored after each hit, and Mark Petkovsek pitched five strong innings and drove in a run for St. Louis.

Petkovsek (4-3) allowed two hits and walked two before a cramp in his left leg forced him to leave the game. Kent Bottenfield pitched two-hit relief for four innings for his fourth save.

Willie Blair (2-9) struck out Mark McGwire three times. McGwire drew his major league-best 71st walk in the sixth and reached third on a double by Gary Gaetti, but Ron Gant grounded out to end the inning.

Padres 3, Giants 2

Quilvio Veras ended a 500 at-bat homerless drought with a solo shot in the sixth inning as San Diego won its seventh straight and handed San Francisco its fourth consecutive loss.

Veras, who earlier had a RBI single, broke a 1-1 tie when he connected off Danny Darwin for his first homer since last July 4.

Andy Ashby (9-4) allowed one run and five hits in 7 1-3 innings. Trevor Hoffman pitched out of a jam in the ninth for his 20th save this season and 28th in a row dating back to last year.

Rockies 3, Dodgers 2, 12 innings

Todd Helton hit a two-run single after a throwing error by reliever Scott Radinsky in the 12th inning.

Vinny Castilla greeted Radinsky (2-3) with a single leading off the 12th and Jeff Reed laid down a sacrifice bunt to the right of the mound. Radinsky threw wildly past first baseman Jim Eisenreich, putting both runners in scoring position.

Helton, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth, grounded a single up the middle for a 3-1 lead.

Marlins 5, Mets 4

Todd Zeile singled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Florida, shut out for six innings by Hideo Nomo, rallied against New York's bullpen.

Nomo, seeking his first win since being traded from the Dodgers to the Mets, gave up just four hits and left with a 3-0 lead. But Cliff Floyd's two-run homer capped a four-run burst by Florida in the eighth that tied it at 4.

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