Expos’ Wilkerson hits for cycle

Montreal claims 6-4 victory against Pittsburgh

? Brad Wilkerson put together Le Carrousel in order.

Wilkerson became the fifth Montreal player to hit for the cycle, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs and leading the Expos to a 6-4 win over the Pirates Tuesday.

“It’s just something you dream of doing as a big-league ballplayer,” Wilkerson said.

He bunted for a single in the second, hit a one-hop double off the right-field wall in the fifth, and put Montreal ahead 2-1 with a two-run triple in the sixth.

In the seventh, Wilkerson drove Salomon Torres’ 1-2 pitch over the center-field wall to become the first Expos player to hit for the cycle since Rondell White did it against San Francisco June 11, 1995.

“I wasn’t thinking about hitting a home run,” Wilkerson said. “It was in the back of my mind, I guess — I would be lying to you if I said otherwise, but I was just trying to get the head (of the bat) out and hopefully get a pitch that I could drive in the gap and get up in the air.”

It was the first cycle in the majors this season and the first time the feat had been performed in sequence — single, double, triple and homer — since the Chicago White Sox’ Jose Valentin did it in five at-bats against Baltimore Apr. 27, 2000.

“‘Le Carrousel’ — I like that,” Expos manager Frank Robinson said. “That’s just a tremendous achievement.”

The two-run homer followed Jose Vidro’s RBI double, giving Wilkerson a career-high four RBIs for the fourth time.

Cubs 9, Brewers 1

Chicago — Sammy Sosa hit two of the Cubs’ six home runs for his first multihomer game of the season and 59th of his career as Chicago defeated Milwaukee. Kerry Wood, Mark Grudzielanek and Alex Gonzalez hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning. Corey Patterson also homered for the Cubs.

The Cubs hit back-to-back homers off Brewers starter Ruben Quevedo in the first inning, when they brought nine batters to the plate. Patterson hit a two-run homer to left field and Sosa followed with a 420-foot shot to center. It was Sosa’s first home run at Wrigley Field since April 17. Ramon Martinez added a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-1.

D’backs 12, Astros 5

Phoenix — Alex Cintron homered for the second straight game, and Arizona won its season-high seventh in a row. Cintron also singled and doubled, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Matt Kata hit a three-run homer in the eighth and had an RBI single for Arizona, which had a season-best 19 hits.

Reds 7, Cardinals 4 (14)

St. Louis — Pinch-hitter Kelly Stinnett’s two-run single snapped a 14th-inning tie, and Cincinnati beat St. Louis for the seventh time in eight games this season. Tino Martinez homered twice for the Cardinals. He hit a solo shot in the eighth that made it 2-all, then had a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth to tie it at 4. Martinez and rookie Bo Hart had four hits for St. Louis, which stranded 18 runners.

Braves 5, Phillies 3

Atlanta — Javy Lopez homered twice, and Andruw Jones also went deep against former teammate Kevin Millwood as Atlanta defeated Philadelphia. Lopez, the leading vote-getter among NL catchers in balloting for the All-Star game, had his sixth two-homer game of an amazing comeback season.

Giants 2, Dodgers 1

San Francisco — Marquis Grissom’s two-run homer was set up by a key balk call against Los Angeles starter Odalis Perez, who was ejected along with manager Jim Tracy. Jason Schmidt had another masterful start for the Giants, throwing a four-hitter to beat the Dodgers for the second time in six days. A tense pitchers’ duel between Perez (4-6) and Schmidt (7-3) turned in the sixth inning when Perez appeared to pick off Ray Durham at first base. But umpire Angel Hernandez called a balk against Perez, and Tracy was ejected for arguing.

Rockies 5, Padres 2

San Diego — Darren Oliver retired the first 13 batters, and Larry Walker homered for the second straight game as Colorado beat San Diego for its fourth win in a row. Oliver (5-5) took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before allowing a bloop single with one out to pitcher Adam Eaton, pinch-hitting for starter Brian Lawrence.

Marlins 8, Mets 4

New York — Luis Castillo triggered a four-run sixth inning with a two-run homer, and Mike Lowell drove in two more runs to help Florida defeat New York.