NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pirates Get a Victory and a Tie in the East, 7-0

The other pennant races may be in doubt, but the National League East isn’t.

Zane Smith pitched a six-hitter Saturday night at Pittsburgh and the Pirates routed the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-0, to clinch at least a tie for the division title.

The Pirates lead the St. Louis Cardinals by 13 1/2 games. When the Pirates win another game or the Cardinals lose one, the Pirates will become the first team to repeat in the Eastern Division since the 1977-78.

Pittsburgh’s 90-59 record is the best in the majors.

Smith (16-10) set a career-high for victories in winning his fourth in a row. The veteran left-hander has given up five earned runs in the last 35 innings.

The Pirates gave Smith all the offense he needed in the third inning when they scored three times. The first came in on a wild pitch by Jose DeJesus (10-8). Bobby Bonilla singled home another, and Barry Bonds tripled in Bonilla.

The Pirates clinched the division last season on a Sunday at home with Doug Drabek pitching. Drabek faces the Phillies today.

“No question, we’d like to clinch it (today),” Bonilla said. “(Today) can be the day. We’d like to do it with 50,000 people here screaming.”

The shutout was Smith’s third of the season.

“He has that good sinker,” Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi said. “He had us hitting ground balls to the shortstop all night.”

Smith held the Phillies to three singles in the last seven innings.

“The defense really picked me up tonight,” Smith said. “I gave up some real hard hit balls, but they were right at people.”

New York 5, St. Louis 3--During a season in which most of his teammates have stumbled, Howard Johnson has produced big numbers.

He increased his league-leading home run total to 36 and tied a club record for runs batted in with 108. Darryl Strawberry had 108 last season. Johnson has 14 games in which to set a club record.

He had his 26th stolen base. Four more would give him 30 home runs and 30 steals for the third time in his career.

It’s the third time Johnson has hit 36 home runs.

Cincinnati 4, Houston 1--Scott Scudder held the Astros to three hits in 6 2/3 innings at Houston and Chris Sabo drove in two runs to help the Reds end a five-game losing streak.

Scudder (6-7) had one string in which he retired 17 of 18 batters.

Rod Dibble pitched the ninth inning for his 30th save, most by a Reds pitcher since Clay Carroll had 32 in 1972.

San Diego 3, San Francisco 2--Greg Harris continued his mastery over the Giants, and Bip Roberts had four hits to lead the Padres at San Francisco.

Until Mark Leonard homered in the seventh, Harris (7-5) had a string of 26 1/3 scoreless innings against the Giants.