NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pirates Score Six in 11th to Beat Cubs, 13-12

A characteristic of the Pittsburgh Pirates in their drive to the pennant in the National League East last season was their ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable deficits.

In the early days of the new season, they are back to their old tricks.

After Andre Dawson hit his second grand slam home run in three days in the top of the 11th inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 12-7 lead at Pittsburgh, the Pirates fought back to win, 13-12.

Don Slaught’s two-run double capped the rally and marked the second time in the game the Pirates came back from five runs down.

Slaught’s double was the fourth hit of the inning and came with one out. One of the hits was by Barry Bonds, who was one for 26 for the season and had struck out four times in the game.

The Pirates, who rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth Friday after Dawson’s bases-loaded home run gave the Cubs a 4-3 lead, trailed, 7-2, in the eighth.

Bobby Bonilla’s 100th home run helped cut the lead to a run and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, former Cub Gary Varsho hit a pinch double to tie the score.

The game was played in steady rain and the temperature at game time was 43 degrees.

“I was reading about the 33-inning game at Pawtucket and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to play in a game that unusual, a really memorable game?”’ Andy Van Slyke said.

“I can’t imagine doing what we did twice in the same game. You’ll probably never see that again.”

Dawson was almost in shock.

“This was a strange game,” he said. “When you’re five runs ahead and they’ve only got one chance left, you’re thinking you’ve won the game.”

The Cubs had a three-run inning, a four-run inning and a five-run inning.

Atlanta 3, Cincinnati 2--Before losing their fifth game last season, the Reds had already won 13 en route to the Western Division title.

Charlie Leibrandt held the Reds to two runs and six hits at Atlanta and the World Series winners fell to 6-5.

Greg Olson, hitting .615, was three for three and drove in the tie-breaking run in the fourth.

Jose Rijo gave up only three hits in six innings, but was the loser.

St. Louis 7, Philadelphia 6--Catcher Darren Daulton, after getting the key hit to give the Phillies a split Saturday night at St. Louis, threw out Ray Lankford trying to steal to end that game.

Lankford got a bit of revenge in the 10th inning of this one. He knocked the ball out of Daulton’s glove and scored from second with the winning run on a ground out.

Daulton had the ball in plenty of time, but when Lankford barreled into him, the ball was knocked loose.

Lee Smith, who saved the first five Cardinals victories, pitched a perfect 10th to get his first victory.

San Francisco 1, Houston 0--Rookie Steve Decker homered with two outs in the ninth inning at San Francisco for his fourth home run and the Giants’ third victory in a row.

New York 9, Montreal 5--Leadoff hitter Vince Coleman had three hits and scored twice at Montreal to spark the Mets.

There were 25 hits in the game, the Mets getting 13 of them. Kevin Elster hit a three-run home run for the Mets.