National League Roundup : Phillies Top Braves, 5-4; Schmidt in Homer Rut

Mike Schmidt is in a nice rut. All he can hit are home runs.

Schmidt hit the 507th home run of his career to tie the score, and Jeff Stone singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves Thursday night at Philadelphia.

The Phillies tied the score, 4-4, on Schmidt’s two-run homer with two out in the fifth inning. The home run was the 12th of the season for Schmidt, who has only five hits in his last 36 at-bats. Four of them have been home runs.

“It must be concentration,” Schmidt said. “It’s tough when you see a hanging slider to try to drive it on the line and not try to lift it.

“I tried to hit the ball on the ground four times tonight, no matter what. Too many have been going in the air. That’s why my average dropped.”

Schmidt’s home run left him four behind Mel Ott, who is 13th on the all-time list with 511.

Greg Gross, pinch-hitting for Phillie starter Kevin Gross (2-4), led off the seventh inning with a single to center field, was sacrificed to second by Milt Thompson and scored on Stone’s single to right off Rick Mahler (2-5).

Steve Bedrosian pitched the last two innings to earn his fourth save.

The Braves took a 4-2 lead in the fourth on Ozzie Virgil’s second solo home run of the game, his 10th of the season.

The Phillies’ Juan Samuel hit his sixth home run of the season and fifth in as many games. He has hit in eight straight games.

Cincinnati 10, Montreal 9--Lloyd McClendon capped a five-run ninth inning with a two-run, pinch single to get the Reds past the Expos at Montreal.

Kurt Stillwell hit a sacrifice fly, and Ron Oester had a two-run double to account for the other runs in the inning.

Ron Robinson (1-0) picked up the victory in relief, and John Franco earned his seventh save.

Houston 5, New York 4--Glenn Davis drove in Bill Doran with a ground-out in the seventh inning to give the Astros a victory over the Mets at Houston.

Dave Meads (3-0) pitched 2 innings of no-hit relief to gain the victory, allowing only an intentional walk while striking out two.

Houston took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a run-scoring single by Kevin Bass and a two-run triple by Jose Cruz.

The Mets got even on a three-run homer by Kevin McReynolds in the third.

Pittsburgh 10, San Diego 3--Mike LaValliere drove in three runs with a pair of singles, and the Pirates swept a three-game series from the Padres at Pittsburgh.

The defeat was the eighth in nine games for the Padres, whose 8-28 record is the worst in the majors. San Diego is 3-15 on the road.

The Pirates, who have won six straight games at home, scored 31 runs in the series.