NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Braves Get Back at Reds in 10th

For the time being, at least, the Atlanta Braves have put a halt to the Cincinnati Reds’ plans to run away with the National League West.

Pinch-hitter Damon Berryhill’s fly ball over a drawn-in outfield in the 10th inning scored Deion Sanders to give the Braves a 3-2 victory Friday night at Atlanta and end the Reds’ seven-game winning streak.

Turnabout was fair play. Thursday night, the Reds ended the Braves’ seven-game winning streak.

The defeat, only the fifth in the last 24 games for the Reds, cut their lead in the West to 3 1/2 games over the Braves.

Greg Swindell was holding a 1-0 lead and working on a three-hitter when David Justice and Brian Hunter hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning.

The Reds tied it in the eighth on Chris Sabo’s run-scoring single with two out.

Reliever Dwayne Henry opened the bottom of the 10th by walking Sanders, who was sacrificed to second by Mark Lemke. Henry’s wild pitch put Sanders on third and he scored easily on Berryhill’s fly.

“All I wanted to do in this situation was to make the outfielder go back on the ball,” Berryhill said. “I knew it didn’t have to go too far to score Deion.

“Actually, I’m surprised they didn’t walk me to fill the bases and give them a shot at a force at the plate.”

The Reds, trying to replace the Braves as champions of the West, had beaten the Braves in all four previous meetings.

Chicago 5, Philadelphia 2--If anyone is going to cut into the Pirates’ lead in the East while Barry Bonds is injured, it might be the Cubs.

With Danny Jackson regaining his form, the Cubs have won seven of eight to surge into a tie for second, 5 1/2 games out of first.

Jackson, who failed to win 28 consecutive starts for the Cubs, won his third in a row. He held the Phillies to four hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Rookie left fielder Derrick May drove in all the Cub runs with two home runs. He hit a two-run homer in the second inning and a three-run shot in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie.

Montreal 2, Pittsburgh 1--The Pirates miss Bonds a little more each game.

In this game at Pittsburgh, Montreal scored two runs in the first inning and Ken Hill held the Pirates to a run in seven innings to give the Expos their fourth victory in five games.

It was the first time the Pirates have lost two games in a row to an Eastern Division rival this season.

The Pirates’ only run came in the first inning when Jay Bell doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Andy Van Slyke’s fly.

Moises Alou and John VanderWal drove in first-inning runs for the Expos. Those were the only runs the Expos have scored against Doug Drabek in the last 31 innings, but it was enough to beat him.

New York 4, St. Louis 3--Vince Coleman, who hit a game-tying two-run home run in the fifth inning at New York, singled in the winning run against his former mates in the ninth inning.

The Mets and Cardinals have each lost 15 of their last 21 games.

Dick Schofield led off the ninth off Mike Perez (4-1) with a single and was sacrificed. After a walk to Dave Magadan, Coleman singled to right, Schofield barely beating the throw home.

John Franco (5-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory.

“This and the meeting last night may turn our season around,” Coleman said. “We got things off our mind and we have a different attitude.”

San Diego 3, San Francisco 2--Gary Sheffield hit his 11th home run in the 10th inning at San Francisco to send the Giants to their seventh consecutive defeat.

Jose Melendez (5-3) pitched two scoreless innings to get the victory.

The Giants were without Will Clark, who was bruised when the teams brawled Thursday night.