Reynolds, Rockies beat Indians

6/18/2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER - Greg Reynolds pitched six strong innings and led Colorado's season-high 17-hit attack by going 2-for-3 with a run scored as the Rockies routed the Cleveland Indians 10-2 last night.

Jeff Baker hit an inside-the-park home run, Brad Hawpe also homered, and Matt Holliday went 3-for-5 with two RBIs for Colorado, which has won three of its last four.

Reynolds (2-4) allowed one run on five hits and struck out four to earn his second win in his last three starts.

Paul Byrd (3-7) took the loss after giving up five runs in four-plus innings.

He left after giving up a run in the bottom of the fifth that made it 5-1, and the Rockies had their first chance to blow open the game when they loaded the bases with one out. But reliever Scott Elarton struck out Chris Iannetta and got Omar Quintanilla to line out to left to end the threat.

Reynolds got into trouble when he loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth, but he got out of it unscathed with some good glove work by Quintanilla, who caught Shin-Soo Choo's line drive and doubled up Ben Franciso at second to end the inning.

The Rockies got some breathing room in the sixth on Atkins' two-run single that made it 7-1, and Willy Taveras' two-run triple in the seventh sparked a three-run rally.

The Rockies took the early lead in the third when Baker drove the first pitch he saw from Byrd to center field.

The ball caromed off the top of the wall and past centerfielder Grady Sizemore, and Baker rounded the bases for his second homer this season.

Hawpe gave Colorado a 4-0 lead in the fourth with a two-run homer to left, his eighth of the season and fifth in the last 11 games.

The Indians made it 4-1 in the top of the fifth when Jhonny Peralta led off with a triple and came home on Casey Blake's sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Infielder Josh Barfield underwent surgery to repair an injured ligament on the left middle finger, and the team said he will be out six to eight weeks. ... The Indians signed 3B Morgan Ensberg to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Buffalo.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Willie Randolph was fired by the New York Mets in the wee hours of yesterday.

Randolph was 2 1/2 months into a disappointing season that has followed the team's colossal collapse last September.

Bench coach Jerry Manuel takes over on an interim basis for Randolph, who led the Mets to within one win of the 2006 World Series. Randolph's record was 302-253 over four seasons.

The $138 million Mets (34-35) had won two in a row when Randolph was dismissed.

He nearly guided the Mets into the 2006 World Series, losing Game 7 of the NLCS to St. Louis on Yadier Molina's tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning.

The Mets and their fans were convinced 2007 would be their year.

What followed was one of the biggest collapses in baseball history: Leading the NL East by seven games on Sept. 12, they lost 12 of their last 17 and missed the playoffs as Philadelphia rallied to win the division title.