NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Braves Stay on Road to First Place With 4-1 Win

When the Atlanta Braves embarked on an 11-game trip, they hoped to stay in the thick of the race in the NL West.

And after the Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1, at Cincinnati on Thursday night, they found themselves only two games behind the first-place Dodgers.

The Braves won three of four at Riverfront Stadium to complete a 7-4 trip that saw them lose only one-half game on the Dodgers, who were idle Thursday.

Charlie Leibrandt pitched eight strong innings and Brian Hunter hit a two-run single in the fifth and a solo home run in the eighth to help the Braves return home 12 games over .500 (66-54) for the first time since 1984.

“We really helped ourselves on this trip,” said Leibrandt (12-11). “Some of the guys in this clubhouse thought we should have overtaken the Dodgers on this trip. That’s not the way it’s done. You hold your own on the road, and we did.”

Leibrandt won his third consecutive start by limiting the Reds to Joe Oliver’s seventh homer. The left-hander has given up only three earned runs in his last four starts, covering 29 innings.

Jim Clancy relieved after Leibrandt gave up his sixth hit to start the ninth. Clancy got his sixth save by retiring three batters.

Cincinnati’s Scott Scudder (4-4) gave up five walks in five innings.

San Francisco 11, Houston 8--Jose Uribe of the Giants broke out of an 0-for-12 slump with a career-high five hits at Houston.

“The longer you stay in baseball, these days are going to come. Today I felt more comfortable than any other day,” Uribe said after scoring a career-high four runs.

“I’m the happiest man in the world, to go five for five and have the team win. I wouldn’t be so happy if we had lost,” he added.

Uribe was replaced as the Giants’ shortstop earlier this season because of his light hitting.

“People say to me that I don’t hit my weight. My weight is 185,” said Uribe, who raised his average from .177 to .202.

Kevin Mitchell had three doubles and drove in two runs for the Giants, whose 2-1 series victory marked the first time they have won a series in Houston since Sept. 16-18, 1988.

Jeff Brantley (5-2) earned the victory, striking out four in two innings of one-hit relief. Dave Righetti got the last four outs for his 20th save.

Darryl Kile (5-8) took the loss, giving up six runs on seven hits. Houston’s four errors increased its major league lead in that category to 115, but only the final Giants’ run was unearned.

Jeff Bagwell hit a three-run homer for the Astros.

Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 3--Darren Daulton’s bases-loaded single in the 11th inning at Philadelphia extended the Phillies’ winning streak at Veterans Stadium to 15 games.

Wes Chamberlain, who also homered for the fourth time in six games, opened the 11th with a single before John Kruk walked.

After Charlie Hayes sacrificed the runners to second and third, Bob Kipper relieved Bill Landrum (1-3) and walked pinch-hitter Jim Lindeman intentionally, setting up Dalton’s game-winning single.

Mitch Williams (8-4) pitched two innings for the victory, the Phillies’ third in a row over Pittsburgh in their final at-bat.

Williams’ record the last two months is 7-1.

The Phillies won the first two games of the series with two-out hits in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Philadelphia is one short of the franchise record for consecutive victories at home, set in 1977.

New York 6, St. Louis 0--Dwight Gooden struggled through five scoreless innings at New York before leaving with tightness in his right shoulder, but the Mets still shut out the Cardinals for the second consecutive night.

Catcher Charlie O’Brien had three hits for the Mets, including a two-run homer off Bob Tewksbury (8-9) in the sixth inning. It was O’Brien’s first home run since Sept. 24, 1989, when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Gooden (13-7), who has won six of his last seven decisions, gave up three hits, five walks and struck out five. He was relieved by Pete Schourek to start the sixth.

“It’s no big deal,” Gooden said. “I’m not concerned. It happened in the first inning when I reached back for a little extra against Pedro Guerrero. I felt something grab . . . felt tightness. I’ve had the same thing in spring training.”

Tim Burke, normally a short reliever, pitched three innings to get the save.