NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Bonds Has Grand Slam, but Padres Top That

Barry Bonds hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the second inning, Saturday night at Pittsburgh to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead.

Against the Four Tops of the San Diego Padres, it wasn’t enough and the Padres won a three-hour slugfest, 10-9.

The Four Tops is the nickname given the first four hitters in the Padre batting order. They are Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Gary Sheffield and cleanup hitter Fred McGriff.

All four were prominent in the comeback that drove Bob Walk to cover in the fourth inning.

Gwynn, four-time batting champion, doubled in three runs in the five-run inning that put the Padres in front to stay.

As it turned out, though, McGriff’s 11th home run, a 452-foot drive in the ninth inning, was the decisive blow.

It was the margin after the Pirates rallied for two runs in the ninth.

Fernandez had three hits, scored a run and drove in three, raising his average to .338. Gwynn is hitting .368. Sheffield also homered and is hitting .318. McGriff, tied with Bonds for the home-run lead with 11, is hitting .316 with 30 runs batted in.

They are the main reasons the Padres, with a .265 average, are leading the league.

“We’re going to go up there and get our hacks,” Gwynn said. “Now the rest of the lineup is starting to contribute.”

In handing the Pirates back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, the Padres scored 19 runs on 30 hits. The Four Tops had 16 of the hits.

Bonds batted with the bases full in each of the first two innings. The first time he popped out.

Houston 3, St. Louis 2--The Cardinals’ string of comeback victories ended at Houston when a .083 hitter, Benny Distefano, hit a run-scoring pinch single with two out in the ninth inning.

A rare Cardinal feat--back-to-back home runs--brought them from behind in the eighth inning. Milt Thompson’s pinch homer spoiled Mark Portugal’s shutout and Ray Lankford tied it two pitches later.

The Cardinals had won six in a row, coming from behind in the late innings in five of them.

The Cardinals lost another pitcher. Omar Olivares, who had pitched well except for Craig Biggio’s two-run home run in the fifth inning, strained his groin and had to leave in the seventh inning.

San Francisco 2, Chicago 0--Manager Roger Craig may have found a solution to his bullpen problem.

Dave Righetti and Jeff Brantley were supposed to be the closers. They haven’t done the job. The Giants’ manager has relied more and more on Rod Beck.

Beck pitched two scoreless innings at San Francisco to save John Burkett’s third victory. In 15 appearances, Beck has an earned-run average of 1.57.

“I’d be dumb not to use him in a lot of save situations,” Craig said. “The other pitchers can see the handwriting on the wall. They know I’m going to pitch the hot hand.”

Matt Williams singled home a run off Greg Maddux (4-3) in the first inning, and Jose Uribe doubled in the other in the eighth.

Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 5--Tim Belcher’s bat gave him a chance to win this game at Cincinnati after he gave up four runs in the first two innings.

Belcher settled down after the shaky start and hit a home run in the sixth inning to tie the game and eventually wound up with his third victory.

In a wild seventh inning, Hal Morris, just off the disabled list after breaking his hand, doubled home Barry Larkin with the go-ahead run.

For a minute or so, Larkin’s double to start the rally was a home run. His drive hit the top of the wall in right-center and second-base umpire Bill Hohn ruled it a home run. A replay indicated the ball never went over the wall. After a conference among umpires, it was ruled a ground-rule double. Morris made sure it was a moot point.

Montreal 7, Atlanta 1--Steve Avery continues to struggle and so do the Braves.

Avery (1-4) gave up seven hits and four runs and was the victim of shoddy fielding at Atlanta. Two of the runs were unearned.