NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Gilt-Edged Bonds Lets Pirates Give Good Accounting Against Reds, 3-1

Barry Bonds refuses to talk about his sensational season. But he is easily the main reason the Pittsburgh Pirates have a two-game lead in the National League East.

Bonds hit a home run and drove in two runs Saturday at Cincinnati to lead the Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Reds and give Zane Smith his second victory in two starts for his new team.

With five weeks remaining in the season, there is nobody in the league with better credentials for the Most Valuable Player award than the 26-year-old outfielder.

Bonds is batting .319 (fourth in the league), has 24 home runs (fifth), 93 runs (first), 90 runs batted in (third), 40 stolen bases (third) and 68 walks (fourth.). And he is batting .429 with runners in scoring position.

Smith (8-7) was traded to the Pirates by the Montreal Expos on Aug. 8. He has quickly become a believer in Bonds and the Pirates.

“Barry exemplifies the spirit here,” Smith said. “This team wants to win. I think it shows in every game we play.”

Bonds doubled in a run in the first inning and homered in the fourth to give Smith all the support he needed to beat the Reds for the first time in two years.

Smith, a left-hander who specializes in getting out left-handed batters with off-speed pitches, spent most of his career with Atlanta, for whom he won 15 games in 1987.

He was having a poor season in 1989 when the Expos, in the battle for the East title, made a deal for him. The Expos used him in relief and in 31 games he was 0-1 to finish with a 1-13 record.

In this game he gave up six hits in 7 2/3 innings. The Reds had only one left-handed hitter in the lineup, Hal Morris, and he had one of the hits off Smith.

The Pirates have won four in a row; the Reds now have lost three in a row.

Said Red Manager Lou Piniella: “I’ve been very patient with a lot of people. And, I’ll tell you, I’m starting to lose my patience a little bit. I don’t know what to say. You have to score runs to win, for certain.”

New York 9, San Francisco 2--David Cone struck out 13 and pitched the Mets to their first victory at Candlestick Park in more than a year. Cone had not beaten the Giants since 1987 and the Mets had lost seven in a row in San Francisco.

Cone (9-6) has won eight of his past 10 decisions.

Trevor Wilson (8-5) had only himself to blame. With two out in the third, he walked Cone, who has nine hits this season, on four pitches. The left-hander never got another out.

Mark Carreon doubled and Dave Magadan singled to left for two runs. Howard Johnson also had a two-run single in the five-run inning.

Cone also had two singles and a sacrifice bunt.

Atlanta 17, Chicago 6--It isn’t unusual for a lot of runs to be scored at Wrigley Field, but it is surprising that there were 35 hits and not one home run.

Mark Lemke had five of the Braves’ 24 hits, scored a run and drove in two. Rookie Lance Dickson (0-3) was chased in a five-run third inning.

It was a breeze for Charlie Leibrandt (5-7), who ended a four-game losing streak. He went six innings, giving up two runs and six hits and getting a 15-2 lead.

Houston 3, St. Louis 2--The Cardinals will be glad when Franklin Stubbs gets out of town.

Friday night he broke up Bob Tewksbury’s perfect game, and in this game he took some luster off rookie Omar Olivares’ debut.

Olivares gave up three hits in eight innings and led, 2-1. But Stubbs hit his 18th home run, off Lee Smith in the ninth, to tie it.

Stubbs led off the 11th with a single, his fourth hit, and eventually scored the winning run on a single by Mark Davidson.

San Diego 4, Philadelphia 2--Jack Clark’s three-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning carriedthe Padres to a win at home.

Andy Benes (9-8) improved his career record against Philadelphia to 5-0, giving up seven hits in six innings for the victory. Craig Lefferts pitched the final inning for his 19th save.