Quote: "I'm not on suicide alert. I'm not about to heave myself off a bridge. There are more important things in life than me getting a hit."

-- Former Oriole Mark Smith, who has gone 0-for-28 for the Pirates to start the season.

It's a fact: Brewers right-hander Jeff Juden drove in four runs yesterday, but he also surrendered four bases-empty homers to the Reds, three of them in the third inning.

Who's hot: Vinny Castilla, Larry Walker and Neifi Perez hit home runs for the Rockies, who won their fifth in six games.

Who's not: The Astros' Jeff Bagwell has gone 61 at-bats without hitting a home run.

On deck: Pitcher Mark Portugal (knee surgery) appears about two weeks away from rejoining the Phillies' rotation, which probably is bad news for former Oriole Garrett Stephenson (0-1, 7.78).

Pub Date: 5/03/98