NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pendleton Carries Braves Past Reds, 7-5

The Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine vs. the Cincinnati Reds’ Tom Bolton appeared to be a mismatch Tuesday night.

But the Braves, instead of having an easy time in the opener of the series at Atlanta, had an uphill battle all the way.

Terry Pendleton hit a two-run home run with two out in the ninth inning to give the Braves, who trailed by 3-0, a 7-5 victory and a 1 1/2-game lead in the National League West.

Pendleton’s 15th home run was his 10th hit in his last 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

It appeared the the gamble by Red Manager Lou Piniella on Bolton was a stroke of genius. Bolton pitched three hitless innings, and Glavine gave up four runs and nine hits and lasted only five innings.

Bolton didn’t make it through the fourth inning, though and the Braves kept fighting back. Pendleton and David Justice had run-scoring hits during the eighth, when the Braves scored three times to make the score 5-5.

Red relief ace Norm Charlton retired the first two in the ninth, but walked Otis Nixon. Nixon stole second, but Piniella still decided to pitch to Pendleton instead of Ron Gant, a .262 hitter.

Pendleton hit a line shot over the left-field fence to make a winner of Marvin Freeman (4-4), who pitched the top of the ninth.

“To a certain extent I was surprised,” said Pendleton, who is batting .390 for the last nine games. “I wouldn’t have wanted to pitch to me.

“I’m not trying to be arrogant or cocky. I’ve just been swinging the bat well lately.”

Pittsburgh 3, New York 2--Alex Cole grounded a single through a drawn-in infield during the 12th inning at Pittsburgh to give the Pirates their fifth victory in a row and a 2 1/2-game lead in the East.

The Pirates twice overcame one-run deficits, the last time in the sixth inning.

Don Slaught’s daring baserunning set up the run in the 12th. Slaught, who singled home the Pirates’ first run, opened the inning with a single. He then caught the Mets by surprise, stealing second base. It was his second steal in three years.

Jose Lind bunted Slaught to third. John Franco came in to walk Cecil Espy, who was hitless in 18 pinch-hit at-bats since May 28. Then Cole lashed his hit between short and third.

Chicago 8, Montreal 6--Mark Grace hit a two-run single to break a 6-6 tie at Montreal.

Marquis Grissom’s two-run double helped the Expos take a 5-0 lead after three innings, giving them a chance to cut the Pirates’ lead in the East to half a game.

But the Cubs scored six runs during the fifth, half of them on Sammy Sosa’s home run.

San Francisco 7, San Diego 1--John Burkett gave up the longest home run in the league this season, a 468-footer by the Padres’ Gary Sheffield at San Diego.

But that one bad pitch was his only mistake and he pitched the Giants to the victory, going 7 2/3 innings to improve to 9-6.

Sheffield, who added a double and a single, exceeded the previous National League best of 460 feet by the Dodgers’ Darryl Strawberry in San Francisco on April 26. Rob Deer of the Detroit Tigers holds the top mark in the American League with a 483-foot drive at home June 11 against the Baltimore Orioles.

It was the 10th time that a homer reached the second deck of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, including three times this season. Sheffield also homered to the second deck May 25 against Pittsburgh’s Zane Smith and the Giants’ Cory Snyder did it June 26 against Lefferts.

Robby Thompson hit his ninth home run in going three for three to lead the Giants. Will Clark and Kevin Bass each had three hits and two runs batted in.

St. Louis 9, Philadelphia 5--Andres Galarraga hit a tiebreaking two-run double and Bernard Gilkey hit a three-run home run during a six-run eighth inning at St. Louis.

Wes Chamberlain’s three-run home run during the sixth gave the Phillies a 4-1 lead. It also gave former Cardinal Greg Mathews a shot at his first victory in four years.

Mathews, who sat out most of the last three seasons because of an arm injury, left after six, giving up six hits and two runs.

Bob McClure (2-2) worked a scoreless eighth for the victory and Cris Carpenter finished, giving up Stan Javier’s run-scoring single.

Cardinal third baseman Todd Zeile was hit in the face by a ball when he misjudged a throw from starter Mark Clark on an attempt to retire Len Dykstra on a grounder during the third inning.

Zeile left the game for a pinch-hitter during the fourth because of blurred vision. Manager Joe Torre was unsure of Zeile’s playing status for today.