NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mets Make a Mess of Braves’ Streak, 8-7

After winning 18 games last season, left-hander Steve Avery won two games in the playoffs to get the Atlanta Braves into the World Series.

It was expected the youngster would be an even better pitcher this season.

But, while the other pitchers on the Braves’ staff are pitching well, Avery is struggling.

When Avery (1-2) took the mound Friday night at Atlanta to face the New York Mets, the Braves had won five in a row, four of them shutouts, and had a club-record 33 consecutive scoreless innings.

Another disappointing outing ended both streaks.

Although he didn’t get the loss in the 8-7 defeat, Avery gave up five runs in the fourth inning and the Mets went on to win their fourth in a row.

The Mets built a 7-1 lead, then needed Daryl Boston’s home run in the eighth inning to break the 7-7 tie.

The Braves sold 47,061 tickets to the game, but only 31,637 showed up in the wake of protests and violence on Atlanta’s downtown streets during the past two days.

Anthony Young gave up eight hits in six innings but avoided serious trouble until the seventh, when the Braves caught up with six runs.

The big blow was a two-run home run by David Justice, who was hitting .037.

The Braves’ scoreless streak, which included three consecutive shutouts, reached 36 1/3 innings. But the Mets batted around in the fourth and scored five times, with the help of errors by Avery and second baseman Mark Lemke. Two runs scored on each error.

Eddie Murray, Dave Magadan and Charlie O’Brien singled to load the bases with one out, but it appeared the scoreless string would continue when Dick Schofield hit a potential double play ball to shortstop Rafael Belliard. However, Lemke, in his haste to catch the ball and pivot, dropped the ball and two runs scored.

O’Brien’s two-run homer made it 7-0 for the Mets in the fifth.

All the Mets’ luck wasn’t good. Vince Coleman, out since the season started because of a hamstring injury, returned and lasted one turn at bat. Coleman strained a muscle in his left rib cage while striking out in the first inning and had to leave the game.

Cincinnati 4, Chicago 0--Greg Swindell (2-1) held the punchless Cubs to six hits in 8 1/3 innings at Cincinnati and the Chicago scoreless streak reached 36 innings.

On top of that, second baseman Ryne Sandberg made his first error in 58 games in the third inning.

The Cubs have been shut out in four consecutive games.

The streak was on everybody’s mind, including Swindell’s.

“You don’t want to be the one to give up a run,” he said. “You know they haven’t scored in a while. I wanted to get that out of my mind. I didn’t want to be the one.”

The Cubs made only one threat. With two out in the first, Mark Grace doubled and went to third on a wild pitch. But Sandberg flied out to end the threat.

In the ninth, Swindell gave up a walk with one out and Rob Dibble came in. He forced Andre Dawson to hit into a game-ending double play for his third save.

Houston 10, Pittsburgh 4--The Astros, held to three runs in their previous three games, came back home and had a celebration.

Pete Harnisch (2-3) went 6 2/3 innings for the victory and singled in two runs.

The Astros beat Randy Tomlin, who had won his first four starts. Tomlin was gone in the third inning after giving up seven hits and four runs.

San Diego 7, St. Louis 5--Oscar Azocar’s two-run single in a five-run eighth inning gave the Padres the lead as they rallied for the victory at San Diego.

The Cardinals brought in Todd Worrell to protect a 5-2 lead in the eighth, but Fred McGriff hit a solo home run, Jerald Clark’s run-scoring single made it 5-4, and Azocar’s single put San Diego in the lead. Gary Sheffield’s sacrifice fly brought in the last run.