Biggio starts farewell tour with a slam
Craig Biggio feels he has nothing left to prove on a baseball field. After a 20-year career in which he stayed with one franchise, played multiple positions at an All-Star level and joined the elite 3,000-hit club, the Houston Astros infielder said yesterday he will retire at the end of this season.
Craig Biggio feels he has nothing left to prove on a baseball field.
After a 20-year career in which he stayed with one franchise, played multiple positions at an All-Star level and joined the elite 3,000-hit club, the Houston Astros infielder said yesterday he will retire at the end of this season.
"There are a lot of guys that have the game taken away from them by injury," he said. "For me to be able to walk away now, on top, on my own accord, I'm very happy with that. I'm in a good place."
Later, Biggio began his goodbye tour with a grand slam in the Astros' 7-4 victory over the visiting Dodgers. He capped a six-run sixth inning with the tiebreaking slam, his second of the season and fourth of his career.
Biggio, the longest-tenured player in Astros history, is the only player in major league history with 600 doubles, 250 homers, 3,000 hits and 400 steals.
In other games:
* At Cincinnati, Yovani Gallardo (3-1) took a shutout into the seventh inning and also hit a run-scoring single in the Brewers' 5-3 victory over the Reds.
* At Denver, Adrian Gonzalez doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth, and the San Diego Padres snapped a four-game skid with a 5-3 win over Colorado, but lost All-Star righthander Chris Young to a strained abdominal muscle after two innings.
* At St. Louis, Carlos Zambrano improved to 13-7 and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cardinals, 4-3.
* At Phoenix, Livan Hernandez (6-6) won for the first time in 10 starts and Arizona won its fourth straight, 9-3, over Florida.
Noteworthy
* Arizona lefthander Randy Johnson, 43, pitched to batters for the first time in his latest comeback from a back injury, then acknowledged the possibility that he might not return this season - or maybe ever.
He said what he will do depends on how he feels after throwing to batters yesterday and today.
* Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter had reconstructive elbow surgery, an operation likely to sideline him for at least a year.
* San Diego's Michael Barrett was suspended for a game and fined $1,500, 2 days after he was ejected from a game against the Phillies for arguing strikes with umpire Chris Guccione. He appealed and will play, pending a hearing. *