NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Hill Beats Cardinals to Go 6-0

Ken Hill became the first Montreal Expos starter to win his first six games of the season, leading the team to a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday at Montreal.

Hill gave up three hits, struck out two and walked three before being lifted after seven innings because of a strained groin.

“I hurt it running out a ball in Philadelphia last week,” Hill said. “There was pain. I couldn’t take it any longer. It hurt when I lifted my leg.”

The Expos’ record for consecutive victories at the start of the season is eight by Tim Burke in 1985, all in relief.

St. Louis starter Joe Magrane (2-5) gave up five runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings. He left in the seventh after giving up solo homers to Delino DeShields and Lou Frazier. Greg Colbrunn added another homer later in the inning, a solo home run against Rheal Cormier.

The Expos scored their first three runs in the third inning on run-scoring singles by DeShields and Marquis Grissom and a run-scoring groundout by Colbrunn.

Philadelphia 5, New York 4--Dave Gallagher and Charlie O’Brien each drove in two runs in the ninth inning to rally the Mets at Philadelphia.

Trailing, 4-1, entering the ninth, the Mets came back against relievers Mitch Williams and David West.

After Bobby Bonilla led off with a single against starter Danny Jackson, Williams (1-2) came in and got Howard Johnson on a popup. But Williams gave up consecutive singles to Jeff Kent, Tony Fernandez and Gallagher, whose bases-loaded hit cut the lead to 4-3.

West replaced Jackson and got Chico Walker to ground to Juan Bell, but the shortstop bobbled the ball to load the bases. Vince Coleman grounded a ball off the glove of first baseman John Kruk, but Kruk grabbed the ball in foul territory and threw out Fernandez on a force out at the plate.

O’Brien followed with a two-run double to put the Mets ahead.

Colorado 3, Houston 2--Dante Bichette drove in all of Colorado’s runs with a two-run single in the fourth and a tie-breaking single in the eighth, leading the Rockies at Houston.

Doug Jones (1-4) gave up singles to Joe Girardi and Jerald Clark with one out in the eighth. Bichette then broke a 2-2 tie with a single to right, scoring Girardi.

Jones walked the next batter, Nelson Liriano, but struck out pinch-hitter Jay Gainer and got Eric Young on a grounder to end the inning.

Cincinnati 4, Atlanta 0--Tim Belcher pitched a one-hitter at Cincinnati to end a month-long slump and give Davey Johnson his first victory as Reds’ manager.

Belcher (2-4) struck out 10 and gave up only a first-inning double to Deion Sanders as he won for the first time since April 20. He had been 0-3 with a pair of no-decisions since then.

The right-hander walked two and hit Sanders in the back in the seventh, the only other runners to reach base. The 10 strikeouts were the most by a Red this season.

Florida 5, Pittsburgh 4--The Marlins survived Andy Van Slyke’s tying two-run inside-the-park homer in the eighth and scored the go-ahead run on Rich Renteria’s 20-foot single in the ninth at Pittsburgh.

Chuck Carr walked with one out against reliever Paul Wagner (1-2), stole second and moved to third when catcher Don Slaught’s throw sailed into the outfield. Renteria, a former Pirates’ first-round draft choice, then bunted the ball off the plate to Wagner, who had no play by the time the ball came down.

Florida starter Chris Hammond (3-4) was dominating when he wasn’t giving up homers, striking out a career-high seven while pitching three-hit ball over eight innings. Bryan Harvey pitched the ninth for his 15th save.

Chicago 4, San Francisco 2--Mike Harkey won his third consecutive decision to lift the Cubs over the Giants at Chicago, dealing Bill Swift his first lost since April 14. It was only the second loss for the Giants in the last 11 games.

Rick Wilkins had a solo homer and a single when Chicago went ahead in the fifth inning, and Steve Buechele also had a solo home run for the Cubs, who had lost four of their previous five.