NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Belcher Follows Orders, Blanks Cubs, 6-0

With everything that has gone wrong, the Cincinnati Reds figured they were pretty fortunate to be on top of the National League West.

Not only had injuries to key players decimated the lineup, but two pitchers expected to be big winners, Jose Rijo and Tim Belcher, were having trouble getting on track.

Rijo hasn’t won yet, but Belcher gave the Reds an example of the way he can pitch Sunday at Chicago when he pitched a two-hitter in a 6-0 victory over the Cubs.

Belcher (2-4) walked two and struck out five in his first complete game and first shutout since he stopped the Cubs for the Dodgers last Aug. 30.

Darnell Coles had three hits, two of them doubles, and drove in two runs. Danny Jackson (0-5), signed to a hefty contract as a free agent by the Cubs before last season, is 1-10 as a Cub.

“It’s true, (Manager) Lou Piniella did tell me before the game in the dugout to pitch a shutout,” Belcher said after ending a three-game losing streak. “But I think that I’m going to throw a shutout every time I go out. I still had a lot left after nine innings.”

Sunday’s game was one of the few times in Belcher’s seven starts that the Reds have given him a lead. In his four losses, the Reds were shut out once and scored only five runs.

Jackson, who gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings and hasn’t won since June 14, 1991, would not speak with reporters.

“I’m not going to say anything,” he said. “You might as well leave.”

Cub Manager Jim Lefebvre had more to say about Jackson’s slump.

“I know Danny has to be very disappointed,” he said. “Here’s a guy who today probably had his best stuff. With each start he seems to get better. He was throwing the ball over the plate and doing what he needed to do. But he winds up with another loss.

“I think there is pressure on a $10-million pitcher because people keep reminding you about how much money you make. What it says is, ‘Aren’t you frustrated having been a 1-10 pitcher over two years?’ They’re quick to remind you about that fact.”

Two errors helped the Reds to a run in the third and Coles doubled and scored on Troy Afenir’s single in the fourth. When it became 3-0 in the sixth on doubles by Chris Sabo and Coles, Belcher was in complete charge.

St. Louis 6, Atlanta 5--When the Braves won the pennant last season, they didn’t blow leads very often.

For the second game in a row at St. Louis, the Braves’ bullpen let a victory slip away.

Saturday night they blew a 9-0 lead. In this one they had a 5-2 lead in the seventh and lost again.

Catcher Tom Pagnozzi hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning to climax another Cardinal comeback.

Alejandro Pena (0-3) had come in to protect a 5-3 lead in the eighth.

Luis Alicea, who had the winning hit the night before, hit his second major league home run in almost 400 at-bats to cut the lead to a run.

Two singles and a walk filled the bases with two out and Pagnozzi came through.

“You could say everybody’s choking,” Pena said. “Nobody’s doing the job in the bullpen.”

Cardinal Manager Joe Torre thought the comeback victories were extremely important.

“Last year the Braves went to the seventh game of the World Series,” he said. “And the way they beat us last year, we didn’t belong on the same field.”

Houston 6, Pittsburgh 4--Astro Manager Art Howe decided to give slumping Jeff Bagwell a rest at Pittsburgh.

Bagwell was in a two-for-26 slump, but when Howe needed a pinch-hitter in the eighth, Bagwell was ready.

Bagwell hit a home run to tie the game, then hit another home run in the 10th to give the Astros their second road victory in 11 games.

“Maybe I should never start him here,” Howe said. “I’ll just wait and get him in there when we need a home run.”

Philadelphia 9, San Diego 3--Terry Mulholland is becoming the Phillies’ stopper. In this game at Philadelphia, Mulholland pitched his second consecutive complete game and drove in two runs.

Mariano Duncan hit a three-run home run for the Phillies to help end a three-game losing streak.

Mulholland settled down after giving up a two-run home run in the first to Fred McGriff, who leads the league with 10 homers.

San Francisco 8, Montreal 3--Kirt Manwaring hit a tiebreaking two-run double and Mike Felder hit a three-run home run in a five-run 11th inning that enabled the Giants to stay a half game behind the Reds in the West.

Dennis Martinez pitched a perfect 5 1/3 innings and gave up three hits and two unearned runs in 7 1/3 innings. Jose Uribe’s double ended the perfect pitching and the bullpen collapsed in the ninth.

Expo rookie Archi Cianfrocco hit a three-run homer in the first.