NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Braves Toss Away Game Against Phillies in 12th

Rookie Brian Hunter’s second error in two innings allowed Philadelphia’s Dickie Thon to score from first base in the 12th inning as the Phillies beat the Braves, 12-11, Wednesday night at Atlanta.

The loss dropped the Braves 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West.

The Braves tied the score, 10-10, in the 11th when Hunter hit his first major league home run, a two-run shot off Darrel Akerfelds (2-1), after Lonnie Smith had walked.

Thon opened the 12th with a single against Jeff Parrett (0-2) and scored when first baseman Hunter tossed Rod Booker’s sacrifice bunt over the head of second baseman Jeff Blauser, who was covering first.

Mickey Morandini, who had three hits and three runs batted in as the Phillies ended a four-game losing streak, then singled home Booker. Jose DeJesus pitched the bottom of the 12th for the first save of his career after allowing an RBI single by Terry Pendleton.

The Phillies had gone ahead, 10-8, in the 11th when Morandini scored on a wild pitch by Parrett, who had walked him before Hunter booted John Kruk’s grounder.

Jim Lindeman, who had tied the score, 8-8, in the ninth with an RBI single, followed with another hit to score Kruk.

Cincinnati 11, New York 10--Dwight Gooden got rocked again. Tom Browning won No. 100 despite a sloppy performance. And the Reds almost let their best offensive performance of the season slip away at Cincinnati in the last two innings.

The Reds scored seven runs off Gooden in five innings, then survived four New York runs in the last two innings to win.

Paul O’Neill drove in three runs with two doubles as the Reds took a 7-5 lead after five innings against Gooden (5-5), who has given up at least five earned runs in four consecutive starts.

A three-run seventh off the Met bullpen made it 10-5, but Kevin McReynolds hit a solo homer and Hubie Brooks a two-run homer off Don Carman to get the Mets within two runs in the eighth.

A solo homer by Billy Hatcher extended the lead to 11-8 in the bottom of the inning, but Brooks singled home two runs in the ninth off Rob Dibble to give the Mets one final chance.

Dibble got Kevin Elster to fly out to O’Neill in right field to earn his 14th save.

Browning (7-4) gave up seven hits and five runs in five innings.

Gooden gave up 11 hits and seven runs in four-plus innings.

San Diego 3, Chicago 0--Dennis Rasmussen pitched a seven-hitter at Chicago, extending his scoreless streak to 19 innings and the Padres’ winning streak to six games.

Tony Fernandez had a rare home run in the first inning, a solo shot off Mike Bielecki (7-3).

The streak is San Diego’s longest since Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 1989. The Padres have not allowed an earned run in the past 26 innings.

Rasmussen (2-0) got the fourth shutout of his career and first since June 26, 1990 at Houston, the date of his last complete game.

Fernandez’s second homer of the year was his 42nd in 4,156 at-bats. His other one came May 20 at Atlanta.

Montreal 8, Houston 2--Delino DeShields had four consecutive hits and four RBIs, and Dennis Martinez pitched a strong game in the Expos’ victory at Houston.

DeShields, who started the two-game series with 10 hits in his previous 52 at-bats, was six for eight as Montreal swept to make Tom Runnells 2-0 since replacing fired Buck Rodgers as manager. DeShields hit a two-run homer in Tuesday night’s 4-1 victory and another two-run homer Wednesday.

Houston lost its sixth in a row.

Martinez (7-4) gave up eight hits, struck out seven and walked two in 8 2/3 innings to beat Jimmy Jones (4-3).

Pittsburgh 7, San Francisco 3--Bob Walk scattered four hits over six innings for his third victory in six days, and Jeff King hit a three-run homer for the Pirates at San Francisco.

The victory was Pittsburgh’s 10th in 11 games, and the loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Giants.

Walk (3-0) won Friday at Philadelphia as a starter and Sunday against the Phillies in relief. In pitching his longest stint of the season, he gave up three runs, two earned, walked two and struck out two.