Glavine Is Overpowering by Using His Changeup

Tom Glavine was back on his game, and the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t do a thing about it.

“[Greg] Maddux is the best and Glavine is not far behind,� Cardinal starter Todd Stottlemyre said after the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep in St. Louis with a 4-1 victory Monday night. “Really, I have fun competing against guys like him.�

Glavine (2-3) regained the changeup that had deserted him, winning for the first time in five starts. Almost half of his pitches were off-speed as he gave up one run and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings.

In his previous four starts, he gave up 11 runs in 24 1/3 innings.

Mark Wohlers finished with hitless relief for his sixth save in six chances, sending the Cardinals to their fourth loss in a row and seventh in eight games.

The game was a makeup of Sunday’s rained-out contest and conditions weren’t a lot better. It was 48 degrees at game time and only 8,059 showed up.

San Diego 2, Houston 0--Joey Hamilton pitched a four-hitter to become the first five-game winner in the major leagues and Luis Lopez hit his first home run in nearly two years for the Padres at home.

San Diego, off to its best start ever, ended a two-game losing streak and won for the seventh time in nine games.

After Craig Biggio’s bloop double in the fourth inning, Hamilton (5-1) retired 11 consecutive batters until Rick Wilkins singled with two outs in the seventh. Hamilton struck out two and walked one. It was his fourth complete game, all shutouts.

New York 3, Montreal 2--John Franco became the first left-hander with 300 saves, and Pete Harnisch held baseball’s top-hitting team to three hits in seven innings on a foggy night in New York.

Franco got his fifth save of the season and his third in three games. It came almost 12 years after his first save, with Cincinnati on April 30, 1984.

Harnisch (2-1) limited Montreal to one unearned run as the Mets stretched a winning streak to three games for the first time this season.

Harnisch, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last year, struck out five.