NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rookie Has 2 Homers, 5 RBIs as Braves Win, 6-1

Rookie catcher Greg Olson waited a long time to get to the major leagues, and he’s making the most of the opportunity.

Olson drove in five runs with his second and third homers as the Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-1, Thursday night at Atlanta, ending Neal Heaton’s 11-game winning streak.

“It’s been a dream season so far,” said Olson, who spent eight years in the minors and was released by the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins organizations before finally getting his chance in the majors.

His two homers lifted his average to .371 in 16 games.

Heaton (6-1) yielded three runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Derek Lilliquist (2-4) scattered eight hits, walked one and struck out one in seven innings. Joe Hesketh pitched the last two innings for his first save.

St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 0--Jose DeLeon held Cincinnati to four hits in 7 1/3 innings and scored the game’s first run after a third-inning triple as the Cardinals beat the Reds at Cincinnati.

Barry Larkin had three hits off DeLeon (3-2), who walked two and struck out seven. Lee Smith came on for his second save after the first two Reds reached base in the ninth.

Cincinnati’s Tom Browning (3-4) gave up one run and four hits in seven innings.

Houston 5, Chicago 4--Pinch-hitter Ken Oberkfell’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the 11th inning gave the Astros a victory at Houston in a game that featured one of the longest home runs in the Astrodome’s 25-year history.

The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when rookie Eric Anthony hit his first homer of the season and the sixth ever into the upper deck. The only other Astro to do it was Jim Wynn in 1970.