Nats give Robinson his 1,000th victory
Philadelphia ? If it weren’t for the shiny new putter sitting on his desk, Frank Robinson probably would have ignored his latest accomplishment.
Robinson gained his 1,000th win as a manager Thursday night, with Nick Johnson hitting a pair of homers in the Washington Nationals’ 10-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 70-year-old Robinson is 1,000-1,095 in 16 seasons with Cleveland, San Francisco, Baltimore and the Montreal-Washington franchise. He became the 53rd manager to reach the milestone.
“It was a 4-2 road trip I was looking at it,” said Robinson, a Hall of Fame player who ranks sixth on the career list with 586 homers. “I forgot all about it. One thousand wins means you’ve been around awhile and you’ve had a few good teams.”
Robinson shared some champagne after the game with his players, who gave him the putter.
“Maybe next 1,000, I’ll get the whole set,” Robinson joked.
Johnson finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs, Ryan Zimmerman drove in two runs, and Billy Traber pitched 52â3 innings.
Mets 7, Padres 2
San Diego – Julio Franco became the oldest player in major-league history to hit a home run when he connected for a two-run, pinch-hit shot in the eighth inning to help New York defeat San Diego. Franco, 47, drove a 1-0 pitch from reliever Scott Linebrink (1-2) into the home-run porch down the right-field line at Petco Park, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead and Franco the fourth pinch-hit homer of his career.
Franco knocked Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn out of the record book. Quinn was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930. Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a pinch-hit homer and have a multihomer game.
Giants 9, Diamondbacks 7
Phoenix – Mark Sweeney drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run, and Pedro Feliz added a two-run double. It was the second time in four days that the Giants blew a big lead and then won in the ninth inning.
Reds 12, Brewers 8
Milwaukee – Brandon Phillips hit his first grand slam and added another shot for his first two-homer game to help Cincinnati beat Milwaukee. Trailing 6-2, the Reds scored 10 straight runs to make it 12-6, including five in the sixth when Phillips hit his two-out slam.