NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pirates Make It an Easy Night for Leyland

The last thing Jim Leyland needed was a stressful, tension-filled night at the ballpark. Randy Tomlin, Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla made sure he didn’t have one.

Tomlin pitched his first shutout and Van Slyke and Bonilla combined to drive in seven runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 8-0, for their sixth victory in a row Monday night at Pittsburgh..

Tomlin (4-3), given a 6-0 lead after two innings, pitched a five-hitter for his first victory since May 7 and the Pirates’ 13th in 17 games. Tomlin struck out six and walked four in handing Houston its fourth consecutive loss.

Leyland got a scare after Sunday’s 10-6 victory in Cincinnati when he experienced chest pains on the Pirates’ trip home, forcing the plane to divert to Columbus. He feared he was having a heart attack, but was given a clean bill of health after a night in the hospital and four hours of tests on Monday.

“This was a very happy day for me,” he said. “And a very happy night.”

It wasn’t for Houston’s Jimmy Jones (5-6)--8-17 lifetime against the National League East--as he gave up six runs and eight hits in two innings. Jones was coming off a 3-0, three-hit victory over Cincinnati in his previous start.

Orlando Merced and Jay Bell singled to start the first and Van Slyke followed with a two-run double. Bonilla, who has five RBIs in his last two games, then had the first of his three singles.

Bonilla added an RBI single in the fourth and Bell hit his ninth homer in the sixth, giving the Pirates 40 runs in their last five games.

San Francisco 4, New York 3--Don Robinson won at Shea Stadium for the first time in nine years, and Matt Williams hit his third home run in two games as the Giants handed the Mets their second loss in a row after a 10-game winning streak.

Robinson (5-6), who struck out five and walked three, allowed one run and four hits in seven innings and won for the fourth time in six starts. Robinson had gone 0-2 in 15 appearances at Shea Stadium since July 29, 1982.

He left with a 4-1 lead, but Francisco Oliveras gave up an RBI double to Kevin McReynolds and Jeff Brantley allowed Howard Johnson’s sacrifice fly. Brantley finished for his sixth save, stranding McReynolds at third in the eighth when Hubie Brooks grounded out and Garry Templeton flied out.

Wally Whitehurst (5-5) gave up all four runs and six hits in seven innings. Earlier in the day, his status as the Mets’ fifth starter gained security when Ron Darling was traded to Montreal for reliever Tim Burke.

St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 2--Geronimo Pena led a 12-hit attack with a homer and an RBI double at Cincinnati as the Cardinals beat the Reds in a matchup of teams that hadn’t won since the All-Star break.

Gerald Perry and Ray Lankford had three hits each--Perry had a solo homer, Lankford an RBI triple--to help St. Louis snap a four-game losing streak. The Reds sustained their season-high seventh consecutive loss.

Omar Olivares (3-1) allowed six hits in six innings to end a slump by St. Louis starters, who hadn’t won since July 3.

Montreal 3, San Diego 0--Rookie Chris Haney got his first major league victory, and Larry Walker hit a two-run homer at Montreal as the Expos won their fifth game in a row.

Haney, (1-3), who started the season in double A, gave up seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out two and walking two.

Andy Benes (4-10) gave up six hits in six innings for his fourth consecutive loss. It also was the sixth loss in seven games and 13th in 17 for the Padres.

Chicago 6, Atlanta 4--Greg Maddux won his first game since June 9, and Chico Walker had three RBIs and scored twice at Atlanta as the surging Chicago Cubs won their fourth game in a row and seventh in their past nine while snapping the Braves’ four-game winning streak.

Walker scored a run and had a two-run double, and Luis Salazar homered as the Cubs chased Pete Smith (1-3), who failed to record an out in the second inning. Walker, who had three hits, also singled in a run in the sixth, and later scored when Andre Dawson drew a bases-loaded walk from Rick Mahler.

Maddux (7-6) gave up a two-out double to Terry Pendleton in the first and retired the next 12 batters before Brian Hunter’s single in the fifth.