Arizona’s Anderson Looks Right at Home

Brian Anderson left more than 40 tickets at the box office for family and friends who came to see him pitch his homecoming at Jacobs Field.

He wasn’t nearly as generous to the Cleveland Indians.

Anderson dominated his hometown team--and the one he spent two seasons with--for 7 1/3 innings and led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-2 win Saturday night.

“I had a lot of jitters,” said Anderson, whose last appearance at Jacobs Field was in Game 4 of the 1997 World Series for the Indians. “When I got to the mound, I was like, ‘Whoa, this is going to be fun.’ It was a special night.”

Anderson (3-7) gave up four hits and faced only two over the minimum in his longest outing this season. After giving up a homer to Jim Thome in the second, he retired 13 in a row and 19 of the last 21 he faced before being replaced in the eighth.

By then, he had thrown only 75 pitches, but the emotion of the game had taken its toll and Anderson told Arizona Manager Bob Brenly he was through.

“When Brian said he felt like he threw 100 pitches, that made it a little easier,” Brenly said.

Byung-Hyun Kim, who gave up a walkoff grand slam earlier this week in a loss at Houston, loaded the bases in the ninth before striking out Travis Fryman and Milton Bradley for his 20th save.

Atlanta 2, Boston 1--Kevin Millwood struck out 10 before leaving with a blister in the sixth inning and the Braves won at Boston.

Gary Sheffield’s two-run homer in the third was enough offense for the Braves to improve to 11-3 in Fenway Park and 2-0 there this season.

John Smoltz got his 27th save in 30 chances and second in the series.

Seattle 8, Colorado 1--Freddy Garcia, making a strong bid to be included on the AL All-Star team, gave up six hits in eight innings and the Mariners hit three home runs to win at Seattle.

Garcia (11-5) retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, hitting Larry Walker with a pitch in the first inning. He then retired eight in a row before walking Walker in the fourth.

Chicago White Sox 5, Chicago Cubs 4--Carlos Lee hit a solo homer, and Frank Thomas homered and drove in three runs as the White Sox defeated their crosstown rival Cubs at Comiskey Park.

Moises Alou went four for four and homered twice for the first time in more than a year, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Cubs from dropping their fifth in a row.

Toronto 5, Montreal 4--Eric Hinske hit a game-winning home run in the 10th inning as the Blue Jays rallied at Toronto.

Hinske, who homered off former Dodger Matt Herges (2-2), went three for five for the Blue Jays, who came back from a 4-1 deficit in the ninth.

Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2--Cliff Floyd homered for the third time in four games, breaking a sixth-inning tie as the Marlins won at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Preston Wilson also homered and right-hander Julian Tavarez (6-4) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings to improve to 4-1 in June.

Milwaukee 10, Minnesota 2--Matt Stairs homered twice and Jose Cabrera pitched six strong innings to lead the Brewers at Minneapolis.

Stairs went three for four with a solo homer in the second inning and a two-run shot in the fifth. Paul Bako also had three hits with a homer and three runs batted in for the Brewers, who ended a six-game interleague losing streak.

Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1--Jeff Weaver pitched 7 2/3 sharp innings at Detroit to help the Tigers end a four-game losing streak.

Weaver (6-8) gave up one run and seven hits, walked one and hit a batter. He struck out four. Juan Acevedo got the final out in the eighth, and pitched an eventful ninth, striking out Jack Wilson with the bases loaded for his 12th save.

San Diego 8, Kansas City 4--Ron Gant, in a one-for-15 skid, hit a grand slam off Dan Reichert in the 10th to power the Padres at Kansas City, Mo.

Baltimore 11, Philadelphia 1--Gary Matthews Jr. had a career-high five hits, including a two-run homer, and Jason Johnson pitched a six-hitter as the Orioles won at Baltimore.

Houston 8, Texas 5--Lance Berkman hit a three-run home run, and Geoff Blum had a two-run homer to rally the Astros, who trailed 5-0, at Arlington, Texas.