National League Roundup : Bonds Hits Two Homers as Pirates Sweep Phillies, 4-2

A lot of baseball people thought it was just a fluke when Pittsburgh won 27 of its last 38 games in 1987. The Pirates didn’t, and they’re proving it in 1988.

Thursday, Barry Bonds hit two solo home runs, and Junior Ortiz hit another and sent home the tie-breaking run with a bases-loaded walk as the Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, at Pittsburgh to sweep the three-game series.

The Pirates (6-2) have four straight victories and are alone atop the East for the first time since September 1983. Counting last season’s streak, they’ve won 33 of their last 46.

Bonds hit his third homer of the season to lead off the bottom of the first, the seventh consecutive time he has reached base safely in his first at-bat. Usually a slow starter, he is batting .411, and his last nine hits have gone for extra bases.

“Have I ever had a streak like this?” asked Bonds, a second-year player. “I haven’t been up here long enough to do that. I haven’t thought too much about it because it’s a long time between now and October.”

Houston 9, Cincinnati 3--Glenn Davis drove in five runs with a three-run homer and two singles to lead the Astros at Houston.

Danny Darwin, taking the place of the injured Joaquin Andujar in the rotation, lost his shutout in the eighth inning on Barry Larkin’s RBI single, then allowed two runs in the ninth. Until Larkin scored, Houston pitchers had gone 24 innings without allowing a run.

Andujar went on the 21-day disabled list because of strained muscles in his left side.

New York 1, Montreal 0--Len Dykstra’s third home run of the season to lead off the sixth inning gave the Mets and Bob Ojeda the win at New York.

Both of Ojeda’s wins have come against the Expos, after he had gone 0-3 against Montreal in 1987. This time, he pitched a two-hitter.