Astros pick up one honey of a victory

Associated Press

Published: Thursday, July 2, 2009 11:26 p.m. MDT

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SAN DIEGO — Geoff Blum hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs and Houston beat San Diego 7-2 on Thursday in a game delayed 52 minutes in the top of the ninth inning when a swarm of bees took over part of left field at Petco Park.

A beekeeper was called to the downtown ballpark and sprayed a chair and a ballgirl's jacket that had attracted the bees. Padres president Tom Garfinkel said a few thousand bees attached themselves to a queen bee.

The game was halted at 3:09 p.m. with the Astros leading 6-1. Five minutes later, both teams were cleared from the field. The beekeeper arrived at 3:56 p.m., quickly did his job to applause from the fans who remained, and the game resumed 5 minutes later.

METS 9, PIRATES 8 (10): At Pittsburgh, Ryan Church singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning for New York, which overcame a five-run deficit and then wasted a ninth-inning lead. Adam LaRoche hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth against Francisco Rodriguez (2-2) before the Mets rebounded to win the makeup of a June 3 rainout.

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REDS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2 (10): At Cincinnati, Joey Votto singled with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning for Cincinnati. The Reds loaded the bases with no outs against Clay Zavada (1-2), stringing together a walk and two singles.

CUBS 9, BREWERS 5: At Chicago, Derrek Lee hit a grand slam and a three-run homer for a career-high seven RBIs for Chicago. Lee drove his 10th career grand slam off reliever Chris Smith in the fourth after connecting for a three-run shot off starter Seth McClung in the first.

BRAVES 5, PHILLIES 2: At Atlanta, Matt Diaz drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning double and Atlanta completed their first home sweep of Philadelphia in four years.

CARDINALS 5, GIANTS 2: At St. Louis, Todd Wellemeyer rebounded from his shortest start of the season with 7 1-3 solid innings for St. Louis.

Wellemeyer (7-7) allowed two runs and seven hits in his longest outing of the season. He lasted 2 1-3 innings in his previous start, giving up three earned runs against Minnesota on June 27. He was 1-3 with a 6.89 ERA in June.