NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cub Rookie Doesn’t Let Crowd 71,329 in Denver Bother Him

Steve Trachsel refused to let Mile High Stadium get to him. Instead, the rookie right-hander for the Chicago Cubs pitched his first major league complete game.

Trachsel, a first-round draft choice in 1992 from Long Beach State, yielded seven hits and the Cubs roughed up David Nied in the first inning Sunday and beat the Colorado Rockies, 12-4.

“I wasn’t intimidated by this park. You can’t let it get to you,� Trachsel said. “I didn’t let it get to me and went out and pitched my game.�

Trachsel (2-1), making his seventh career start, struck out four and walked four before 71,329, the seventh-largest crowd in the Rockies’ history.

“I had to come out in the first inning to remind him he had to throw strikes for us to help him,� Cub Manager Tom Trebelhorn said. “After that, he pitched well.�

Chicago’s first five batters got hits, starting with Karl Rhodes’ 416-foot homer into the right field bleachers. The Cubs, who finished with a season-high 16 hits, scored four runs in the first, getting a run-scoring single from Derrick May, an run-scoring double from Sammy Sosa and a run-scoring groundout from Shawon Dunston.

“I’ve been hearing the people behind home plate asking if I’d hit another home run,� said Rhodes, who hit three on opening day.

“I’m a line-drive hitter who happened to get the ball up into the wind today and hit it out.�

Nied (2-2) gave up eight runs and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. He walked four and struck out one.

Andres Galarraga drove in a run with a groundout in the bottom of the first, but Chicago made the score 8-1 in the third on Trachsel’s RBI single, Rhodes’ run-scoring double and Ryne Sandberg’s two-run triple.

San Diego 6, Philadelphia 5--Andy Benes stopped his nine-game losing streak, Tony Gwynn tied a club record with his eighth consecutive hit and Phil Plantier drove in three runs with a homer and double at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Benes (1-4) won for the first time since last Sept. 1 against Florida, giving up five runs--four earned--and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two.

Gwynn, who had five hits in five at-bats Saturday, was hit below the right knee on the first pitch by Curt Schilling (0-3). The two exchanged words and Schilling received a warning from plate umpire Bob Davidson.

“It all stemmed from last night. When I was on second base in the fourth inning, Ben Rivera thought I was giving signs to the hitter,� Gwynn said.

Gwynn said he tried to convince Rivera and catcher Darren Daulton he wasn’t stealing signs. “I can’t even read their signs,� he said.

Gwynn singled in the third and fourth before hitting into a double play in the sixth and singling in the eighth. The eight consecutive hits tied the record set by Dave Winfield in 1979. Gwynn also tied a team record--held by himself and Bip Roberts--by reaching base nine consecutive times.

San Diego, which held on after taking a 6-0 lead, completed its first three-game sweep since last Aug. 23-25 against St. Louis.