NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Homers by Hunter, Justice Bring Braves Closer

David Justice missed two months because of a back injury and the Atlanta Braves remained in the pennant race.

The back has stopped hurting and Justice is ready to key the Braves’ drive to overtake the Dodgers in the National League West.

Justice, in his fifth game since his return, hit a home run to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning at Atlanta to lead the Braves to a 4-2 victory Friday night over the Philadelphia Phillies.

With the Dodgers losing at St. Louis, the Braves are only one game behind.

Brian Hunter, a rookie first baseman, has helped make up for the loss of Justice and first baseman Sid Bream. Hunter, who homered in the victory over the Cincinnati Reds Thursday night, followed Justice’s home run with his ninth.

The slugging helped Tom Glavine (16-8) become the league’s first 16-game winner. The left-hander gave up three hits and an unearned run in six innings.

The Phillies had won three in a row from the Eastern Division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. They had won 18 of their previous 22, the hottest pace in the majors.

Justice’s 12th home run beat Terry Mulholland (12-11). The previous home run by the left-handed-hitting Justice also was off left-hander Mulholland on June 19.

“I don’t think I hit him that great (three for eight),” Justice said. “I’m starting to feel more comfortable. I think I’ll be able to make a contribution the rest of the way.”

In his five games back, Justice has had the game-winning hit in two of them.

“We need David’s bat in the lineup,” Manager Bobby Cox said. “He means a lot to us.”

Hunter’s home run, which Mulholland said came on a changeup, was a 406-foot shot over the left-field wall.

Pittsburgh 8, San Francisco 0--Since his terrible start, Doug Drabek has been an asset in the Pirates’ drive to the title in the East.

Last year’s Cy Young Award winner lost six of his first seven starts. But with his second shutout of the season, a seven-hitter at Pittsburgh, Drabek improved his record to 13-11. He is 12-5 since May 11. Last season he was 22-6 with three shutouts.

Bobby Bonilla doubled, scored a run and drove in another to continue his hot August pace. He is hitting .382 this month.

Drabek is 19-6 in August.

The Pirates, coasting with a six-game lead and six weeks left, hope Drabek will make it that much easier.

“It was the best game he’s pitched all season,” Pirate Manager Jim Leyland said. “He used the whole plate, inside and out. Getting a complete game like that when your bullpen is tired is like scoring with two out. It’s golden.”

Chicago 5, San Diego 4--Bruce Hurst, pitching his usual strong game, seemed certain to get his 15th victory.

He was two outs away from victory and had a 4-2 lead at Chicago. There seemed no cause for panic when Shawon Dunston singled. But Hector Villanueva hit a drive to left that Jerald Clark misjudged and it went for a triple.

That was all for Hurst and shortly thereafter, the game was lost. A sacrifice fly tied the game, a single put the winning run on base and with two out Mark Grace doubled home the winning run.

“When I saw it was not going out, I thought it would be caught,” said Villanueva who had one triple in 94 games.

Cincinnati 6, New York 1--Nothing much better can happen to a team in a slump these days than to face Frank Viola.

He is in a terrible rut.

The Reds went into New York with a three-game losing streak and their pennant hopes almost gone.

But 11 of the 21 batters that faced Viola (12-11) hit safely, and the Reds scored five times before chasing him with two out in the fourth inning. In his last three starts he has pitched 13 1/3 innings, giving up 19 runs and 28 hits.

Houston 9, Montreal 2--In the battle of the two last-place clubs at Houston, Jeff Bagwell of the Astros made another pitch for rookie of the year honors.

Bagwell had three hits and drove in three runs to lead the assault on Dennis Martinez. Martinez (12-8), who went into the game with a 2.03 earned-run average, best in the majors, gave up five earned runs in six innings and it jumped to 2.20.

Bagwell, who hit his 12th home run, a double and a single, raised his average to .290. He has driven in 59 runs.