NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Wilson’s Homer Gives Scott a Win

Glenn Wilson’s three-run, pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning at Houston preserved Mike Scott’s three-hit, 15-strikeout performance and rallied the Astros to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Friday night, snapping the Astros’ seven-game losing streak.

The Reds, restricted to one hit by Scott (3-6) over the first nine innings, took the lead in the 10th when Barry Larkin singled with one out, went to second on a groundout, stole third and scored on Todd Benzinger’s single to right.

“I didn’t feel very good when he (Benzinger) got the hit,” Scott said. “But my arm still felt good and it was good to see Glenn put it out for us.”

In the bottom of the 10th, Eric Anthony drew a one-out walk off Randy Myers (1-1). Pinch-runner Louie Meadows went to second on a single by Rafael Ramirez and took third on Alex Trevino’s fly to center field. Wilson then homered over the right-field fence, just beyond Paul O’Neill’s leap.

Scott had retired 18 consecutive batters before Larkin singled. After Eric Davis grounded out, Larkin stole third and O’Neill walked before Benzinger’s hit broke the tie. Scott then made Mariano Duncan his 15th strikeout victim, setting a career high.

Tom Browning continued to pitch without support. He gave up only five hits, walked three and struck out seven in nine innings, extending his shutout string to 23 1/3 innings. It was the second time this season Browning has pitched nine scoreless innings without getting a decision.

Scott struck out five of the first six batters he faced and surpassed his previous season-high strikeout total of five in the third inning.

Montreal 18, St. Louis 2--Catcher Nelson Santovenia drove in a career-high six runs, including four in the first two innings at Montreal.

Santovenia hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run first inning against former teammate Bryn Smith (6-5) and added an RBI single in the second, when the Expos scored six times against Ricky Horton. He had a two-run single in the eighth.

Tim Wallach, who has at least one extra-base hit in 13 of his last 20 games, had a two-run single in the first and doubled home two runs in the second. His double was the Expos’ fifth consecutive hit and followed RBI singles by Tim Raines and Andres Galarraga.

The Expos’ 18 runs was one short of the franchise record, accomplished five times, the last time against Houston in 1979.

Chicago 15, Philadelphia 2--Shawon Dunston’s grand slam highlighted a nine-run third inning as the Cubs broke a five-game losing streak by routing the Phillies at Wrigley Field.

Besides his slam, which followed an intentional walk to Ryne Sandberg, Dunston had an RBI grounder and walked twice as the Cubs got 16 hits and 10 walks. Sandberg led off the inning with his 13th homer.

Jeff Pico (2-0) gave up one unearned run and six hits in seven innings after entering the game with a 6.64 earned-run average. He also went 2 for 3 anddrove in a run.

Major league batting leader Len Dykstra of the Phillies extended his hitting streak to 21 games with a single in the seventh inning.

New York 7, Pittsburgh 1--Darryl Strawberry hit two home runs in a game for the 21st time in his career and Sid Fernandez pitched two-hit ball for seven innings at New York.

The Mets snapped the Pirates’ four-game winning streak and won a game they considered crucial. A loss would have dropped New York 10 1/2 games behind the East-leading Pirates.

The game was delayed by rain twice, totaling 2 hours 48 minutes, and didn’t end until after 1 a.m. EDT.