NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Reds Put the Slug on Astros, 9-6

Houston Manager Art Howe says there is bad blood between his Astros and the Cincinnati Reds. And it certainly showed Wednesday night at Cincinnati.

Hal Morris hit a three-run homer and Glenn Braggs had a two-run pinch double in a fight-marred fifth inning as Cincinnati beat Houston, 9-6, to stay one game ahead of Atlanta in the National League West.

The bench-clearing brawl broke out after Morris homered to cap the Reds’ six-run inning. Pete Harnisch (3-7) threw the next pitch behind Reggie Sanders, triggering a melee that held up play for eight minutes.

“I don’t know for sure what happened,” Cincinnati Manager Lou Piniella said. “I was on the other end of the pile. But I was trying to break it up.”

Piniella warned there could be more trouble between the clubs.

“Sooner or later there’s going to be retaliation, I’m telling you that,” he said.

Harnisch, Braggs, Red reliever Rob Dibble and Astro coach Ed Ott were ejected for their part in the fight. Bip Roberts also left the game because of a sore shoulder, partly as a result of the brawl.

“There were six or eight guys on top of me. I was underneath everything,” said Harnisch, who denied intentionally throwing at Sanders.

Atlanta 5, San Francisco 0--John Smoltz expected to win. What the Braves’ right-hander didn’t expect was a rare home run from Otis Nixon.

Smoltz pitched a two-hitter and struck out 10 as the Braves beat the Giants at Atlanta for their third consecutive shutout and fifth win in a row.

“I’ve been throwing like this for a while,” Smoltz said. “I feel like I’m going to win every time I go out there now.”

Nixon hit a two-run homer--his first home run in nearly two years--and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.

“That was quite a treat. It was fun to watch,” Smoltz said of Nixon’s line drive over the left-field wall in the fifth inning.

Montreal 8, Philadelphia 1--Expo pitching coach Joe Kerrigan thought Ken Hill was a little late--about an inning--with his bat at Montreal.

“Joe was teasing me that the ball I hit out was only thrown 82 m.p.h.,” Hill said of his first major-league home run. “Joe said I should have hit the first one out (in the third inning). Next time up (in the fourth), boom!”

Hill pitched well and had two of Montreal’s 11 hits as the Expos averted a three-game sweep.

St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1--The pitching line--6 1/3 innings, 10 hits, no walks, three strikeouts--certainly wasn’t All-Star caliber. Some nights, it would have meant disaster.

This night, it was exactly what the Cardinals needed.

Bob Tewksbury, pitching with three days of rest, threw 6 1/3 shutout innings and the Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals, finishing 3-6 on a three-city trip, pulled to within 6 1/2 games of the East-leading Pirates.

“We needed to stop the slide and Tewks gave us what we needed--again,” Cardinal Manager Joe Torre said. “He’s had only one bad outing all season. He belongs in the All-Star game.”

New York 3, Chicago 2--Dwight Gooden found the perfect solution to his pitching woes: the Cubs.

Gooden got his first victory in a month and doubled home a run as the Mets beat the Cubs at New York for their fourth consecutive victory.

The win improved Gooden’s record against Chicago to 24-3, including 12 consecutive victories at Shea Stadium. Gooden (5-6) gave up six hits in eight innings, striking out three and giving up an intentional walk.

“He was a pitcher tonight,” Met Manager Jeff Torborg said. “His ball had more pop on it in the seventh and eighth than in the previous couple of innings. He struggled with his fastball, but his breaking pitch helped him all game long. He did a heck of a job.”

It was Gooden’s first victory since beating San Francisco on May 23. Since then, he had three no-decisions and two losses.