NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Giants Beat Braves for 14th June Victory

Over the years, the San Francisco Giants made the June swoon infamous, but this season is different. After a horrible start, the Giants are in a June bloom.

Scott Garrelts pitched a three-hitter and Matt Williams hit his 13th home run and drove in three runs Saturday at San Francisco, and the Giants continued their rampage with a 7-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

The Giants have won seven in a row and are 14-1 this month. Their early season misery in Candlestick Park is a thing of the past.

Williams has played a major role in the Giant surge. The third baseman has hit safely in 13 consecutive games. During the streak he has hit four home runs and driven in 18 runs.

Going into the month, the Giants were in a virtual tie with the Braves for last place in the National League West, 14 games behind Cincinnati. San Francisco’s 6-16 record at home was the worst in the majors. Manager Roger Craig admitted he didn’t know why the Giants suddenly couldn’t win at Candlestick.

They can now. This was the Giants’ eighth consecutive win at home. While the Braves are 16 games out of first, the Giants are only 7 1/2 games behind and have moved into second place.

Garrelts opened the season 1-6, but he has won three in a row and his June ERA is 1.21.

“This is the best I’ve pitched this season,” Garrelts said. “The first part of the season was frustrating. It’s good to contribute again.”

Williams has led the revitalized attack. In his streak he is hitting .462.

“I feel I’m learning the strike zone better and better,” Williams said. “I also realize that a single with a guy on second is as good as a solo home run.”

Cincinnati 6, Houston 2--In a season in which they have done just about everything else, the Reds have not been a team with power.

In their first 57 games the Reds hit only 40 home runs. Only St. Louis, playing in one of the toughest home run parks in the league, was worse.

In this game at Cincinnati, the rejuvenated Reds turned to the home run. They hit five, including three in a row to open the fifth inning.

Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin and Eric Davis, the first three batters in the lineup, hit the consecutive home runs. Davis’ fifth home run was a 441-foot drive. Glenn Braggs hit his first homer for the Reds, a two-run smash in the fourth inning, and Todd Benzinger closed out the scoring with his second home run, in the eighth inning.

Danny Jackson (2-2) made it through five innings to get the victory. He gave up seven hits and both Houston runs.

Ron Dibble struck out four batters in three innings and picked up his seventh save.

Pittsburgh 11, New York 6--When Darryl Strawberry hit his fifth home run in five games, a two-run smash in the first inning at Pittsburgh, it appeared the Mets were rolling.

New York, which had scored 50 runs while winning four games in a row, led, 4-0, behind nine-game winner Frank Viola.

But the Pirates showed Viola why they lead the National League East by hammering him for 10 hits and seven runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Barry Bonds had a two-run single in the fourth inning when the Pirates tied it. After the Mets took a 6-4 lead, Pittsburgh chased him with three more runs.

Sid Bream hit a three-run pinch home run in the eighth inning to put the game away.

The victory put Pittsburgh seven games ahead of the Mets and dropped New York into fourth place.

Philadelphia 2, Chicago 1--Darren Daulton hit a tie-breaking two-run home run with two out in the seventh inning at Philadelphia to hand both the Cubs and Greg Maddux their sixth consecutive defeat.

Maddux (4-7), who hasn’t won since May 5, had a two-hitter and a 1-0 lead until the sixth inning.

Darrel Akerfelds (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings in relief to pick up the victory.

St. Louis 5, Montreal 3--Willie McGee delivered a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning at St. Louis, and the Cardinals ended their five-game losing streak.

The bullpen, which has been a shambles since Lee Smith was hurt, finally held a lead after the Cardinals had lost three games in a row in the last inning.

Bob Tewksbury, just up from the minors, was the winner. Former Dodger Tom Niedenfuer pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings to get his first save of the season.

The Expos, who had won three in a row, dropped three games behind Pittsburgh in the East.