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HOUSTON (AP) -- Luis Gonzalez went on the Tour de Enron, becoming
the first player on the Arizona Diamondbacks to hit for the cycle.
Gonzalez doubled in the first inning, singled in the third,
tripled in the eighth and homered in the ninth Wednesday night as
the Diamondbacks rallied past the Houston Astros 12-9.
|  | | This was hit No. 1, a first-inning double, as Luis Gonzalez makes team and field history. |
"Once you hit the triple, that's the hardest thing to do, and
you know you have the chance," Gonzalez said.
He became the first player to hit for the cycle in Houston's new
Enron field, which opened this year. The home run came in the ninth
off Doug Henry.
"I didn't want to get beat or cheated inside, I just wanted to
get the head of the bat out," the former-Astro said. "I knew I
needed a home run. To know that only 200-some guys have done it in
history makes it special to have my name on something like that."
Gonzalez, who went 4-for-6, became the fifth player to hit for
the cycle this season, the 126th in NL history and 229th in the
major leagues.
Colorado's Mike Lansing (June 18 vs. Arizona), the Chicago White
Sox's Jose Valentin (April 27 vs. Baltimore), Pittsburgh's Jason
Kendall (May 19 vs. St. Louis) and Oakland's Eric Chavez (June 21
vs. Baltimore) also accomplished the feat.
The most cycles ever in one season was eight in 1933, according
to the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball's statistician.
Travis Lee, Steve Finley and Damian Miller had three hits each
for Arizona, which outhit the Astros 16-10. Tony Womack went
2-for-5 and drove in the go-ahead run during a four-run seventh
inning -- two runs after the ballpark's room was opened.
"Was there a full moon tonight? It's just another game when you
open that roof here," Arizona manager Buck Showalter said.
Houston has lost five straight home games, their longest home
skid since dropping seven straight at the Astrodome June 6-22,
1995. The Astros have been outscored 49-22 during the slide,
allowing double-digit runs in four of five games.
"It's more of the same: We get a lead and lose it," Astros
manager Larry Dierker said.
Houston led 8-4 before Womack's RBI single in the sixth off
All-Star Shane Reynolds.
Arizona then went ahead in the seventh on Lee's RBI double and
Craig Counsell's run-scoring single off Jose Cabrera, and Danny
Bautista's RBI grounder and Womack's go-ahead single off Marc
Valdes (1-2).
Arizona made it 11-8 in the eighth off Valdes on Lee's RBI
grounder and Miller's run-scoring single.
"I don't think Shane pitched that badly, but I don't think I've
ever seen that many bloop hits," Dierker said. "Combine that with
the fact we didn't play well in the field and the bullpen was
terrible -- I guess this game more than any other summarizes how
this season has gone.
"When they get that many bleeders, bloopers and choppers it
begins to get to you mentally, it was a whole summary of
misfortune. Combine that with some poor play, and this is what you
get."
Moises Alou, who went 3-for-5 with four RBI, had a run-scoring
single in the ninth off Byung-Hyun Kim, who got his 14th save in 16
chances.
Astros starter Shane Reynolds, selected for his first All-Star
game, allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings.
Arizona's Nelson Figueroa, making his second major league start,
allowed six runs and four hits in four innings.
Mike Morgan (4-2) won despite allowing two runs and three hits
in two innings.
Marc Valdes (1-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the loss, allowing
three runs -- two earned -- on three hits and two walks.
Finley put the Diamondbacks ahead with an RBI single in the
first, but Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer in the bottom half.
Miller's homer tied it in the second, and Arizona went ahead 4-2
in the third on Lee's RBI single on Gonzalez's run-scoring
grounder.
Alou hit a three-run homer and Craig Biggio singled home a run
as Houston took a 6-4 lead in the third. Berkman hit an RBI double
in the fifth and scored on a throwing error by Miller, whose throw
from the plate to second rolled to the left-center field wall for
an error.
Game notes
Bill Spiers leads the Astros with seven pinch hits and is
hitting .318 (7-for-22) as a pinch hitter. ... Miller's homer gave
him a career-high eight-game hitting streak.
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Toronto 7
NY Yankees 12
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Arizona 12
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Needing a home run to complete the cycle, Luis Gonzalez was looking for the right pitch.
wav: 95 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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