NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Braves Have a Lot Left With Leibrandt

Left-handers Tom Glavine and Steve Avery get most of the accolades, but the Atlanta Braves have a third left-hander who is pitching nearly as well.

Charlie Leibrandt, a veteran of pennant drives, gave the Braves another big lift Saturday at New York.

Leibrandt, who will turn 35 before the end of the season, gave up five hits in eight innings in the Braves’ 6-1 victory over the New York Mets.

David Justice, Terry Pendleton and Brian Hunter hit home runs, and Leibrandt also contributed on offense. When he came up in the fifth inning with Lonnie Smith on base, Leibrandt hit a run-scoring double, his third hit in 60 at-bats this season.

Frank Viola, who has lost nine of his last 10 starts, gave up five runs and six hits in five innings. In his last 32 1/3 innings, he has yielded 30 runs and his record has fallen to 12-14.

It was the seventh consecutive quality effort for Leibrandt (14-11) and his fifth victory in a row.

In each of the seven starts, which includes a 1-0 defeat, Leibrandt went into the seventh inning. He pitched 51 2/3 innings, gave up only 35 hits and eight runs, for an earned-run average of 1.39. In the other game he didn’t win in the string, he left with a 3-2 lead and the bullpen couldn’t hold it.

While most of the Braves have never been in a race, Leibrandt pitched in three championship series, the first for Cincinnati in 1979.

Leibrandt, who was 9-11 for the last-place Braves in 1990 after undergoing shoulder surgery, became a free agent last winter but quickly re-signed with Atlanta. “We can’t depend on our hitters to do all the work,” Leibrandt said. “We have to give them solid pitching. I need to keep pitching the way I have. We know it will be a hot battle with the Dodgers. But we also know we are capable of winning it all.”

Leibrandt gave up a leadoff double to Keith Miller, then retired 16 batters in a row. Justice led off the second inning with his 15th home run and Pendleton hit a two-run homer in the third. By the time Leibrandt gave up a double to Mark Carreon in the sixth inning, he already had a commanding lead.

Chicago 2, San Francisco 1--When the season opened, Damon Berryhill was the Cubs’ catcher and a reason why the club was picked by many to win the East.

But Berryhill was such a disappointment, hitting less than .200, he was sent to the minors and the Cubs never got into the pennant race.

After regaining his batting stroke at triple-A Iowa, Berryhill was brought back Friday. In his first at-bat since being recalled, Berryhill hit a two-run home run in the second inning at Chicago and it was enough to beat the slumping Giants.

Mike Bielecki (13-8) gave up three hits in eight innings as the Cubs handed the Giants their sixth loss in a row.

Montreal 7, Cincinnati 5--At this time last season, the Reds were breezing to the West title. They were on the way to a banner season that was to culminate in a sweep of the World Series.

It is mostly the same group that is struggling in fourth place, 9 1/2 games behind the Dodgers and all but eliminated from the race.

Nelson Santovenia hit a home run and drove in three runs at Montreal as the Expos, winning for the seventh time in eight games, dropped the Reds three games below .500.

The Expos built a 7-1 lead before the Reds rallied for four runs in the ninth.

Tom Browning (13-10) lasted only five innings, giving up six runs and eight hits.

Houston 6, Philadelphia 0--Andy Mota had a key hit and Darryl Kile pitched a strong game at Houston as the Astros continued their late-season spurt.

Mota singled home the first run of the game in the seventh inning and the Astros broke it open with five in the eighth.

Kile (7-9) gave up five hits and struck out six in 7 2/3 innings and the Astros moved to within five games of fifth-place San Francisco.

San Diego 1, St. Louis 0--Tim Teufel opened the 10th inning at San Diego with his fourth home run and the Padres beat the Cardinals at San Diego.

The Padres’ pitching in the last five games has been phenomenal. They have given up only five runs while winning all five games.

The Cardinals remained 10 games behind Pittsburgh in the East.