NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Reversal of Fortune Costly to Cardinals, 8-7

When they soared to the top of the National League East, the St. Louis Cardinals were coming from behind to win games in the late innings.

The opposite was true when they fell out of first place Wednesday with an 8-7 loss to the Reds at Cincinnati.

The Cardinals, behind talented rookie Donovan Osborne, built a 6-2 lead before Osborne fell apart in the sixth and gave up home runs on successive pitches to Barry Larkin and Chris Sabo.

Then Glenn Braggs, who was in a two-for-38 slump, took over. He doubled on the first pitch after the home runs to keep the four-run sixth alive, then doubled home Sabo with the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning.

It was the eighth victory in nine games for the Reds, who lead the West by a game, and the third loss in a row and sixth in the last seven for the Cardinals, who dropped into a tie with New York for second place, a game behind Pittsburgh.

“I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get another hit,” said Braggs, who is batting .184. “I can’t remember the last time I hit the ball hard--not even a grounder. But the first double gave me the confidence to hit another.”

Manager Joe Torre is perturbed about the Cardinals’ pitching.

“Our pitchers are not aggressive enough,” he said. “We’re not thinking. We’re not doing the things that got us on top.”

Osborne said he became careless with the four-run lead. “I went out in the sixth and kind of relaxed,” he said. “I threw three fastballs in a row and they hit them.”

The Cardinals were aggressive on offense, though. They jumped on Greg Swindell for 11 hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

San Diego 5, Chicago 1--Bruce Hurst wasn’t sure what he liked most about improving his record to 5-4 at Chicago. He gave up only six hits in going the distance and for the second game in a row he didn’t walk a batter.

“It was great to pitch my third complete game in the last five,” Hurst said. “I don’t believe in the suggestion that if I take the team into the seventh I’ve done my job. To me the game is simple: just a bunch of nine one-inning games.”

Gary Sheffield singled twice and doubled to lead the Padre attack and raise his average to .346 for the last 26 games (37 for 107).

Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1--Darren Daulton had a tough time convincing Manager Jim Fregosi of the Phillies that he should be in the lineup at Atlanta.

But Daulton hit a two-run home run off John Smoltz to lead the Phillies to their 10th victory in the last 16 road games.

Why did he have trouble convincing Fregosi, Daulton was asked? “I was 0 for 19 against him,” he said.

Daulton took care of that in the first inning after the Phillies had already scored a run, and his fifth home run made it 3-0.

“I just didn’t have good stuff,” said Smoltz (5-5), who gave up all four runs in three innings.

Curt Schilling (4-3) pitched seven scoreless innings for the victory.

Houston 5, Montreal 3--Rafael Ramirez capped a four-run rally in the first inning at Houston with a run-scoring single.

Armed with the early lead, Pete Harnisch (3-5) went five innings to get the victory. He gave up home runs to Moises Alou and Archi Cianfrocco.

Jeff Bagwell, who had not hit a home run since May 19, hit a homer in the fifth inning to stretch his hitting streak to eight games.

Doug Jones pitched the ninth to earn his 13th save in 16 opportunities.