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NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Clark Quickly Calms Giant Rookie’s Nerves

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From Associated Press

Pitcher Greg Brummett of the San Francisco Giants acknowledged being nervous before his major league debut Saturday at Atlanta against the Braves, but he breathed a sigh of relief when Will Clark homered during the first inning.

Clark ended a streak of 161 at-bats without a homer when he hit his second of the year after a walk to Robby Thompson.

“That probably helped out the most, getting that 2-0 cushion in the first,” Brummett said, after pitching the Giants to a 6-3 victory.

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“I just concentrated on keeping the ball down and getting some ground balls. Things worked out perfectly.”

Barry Bonds also homered as the Giants ended a three-game losing streak and extended their National League West lead to four games over the second-place Braves.

Brummett gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out three before leaving with two out in the seventh inning.

“He has a lot of poise for a young man,” Giant Manager Dusty Baker said. “Inside I’m sure he had butterflies, but he didn’t show it.”

Bonds made the score 3-0 during the third when he hit his 13th homer of the season into the right-field seats against Pete Smith (2-4).

The Giants added two runs during the fifth, chasing Smith on a double by Darren Lewis and a run-scoring single by Thompson that extended his hitting streak to 19 games--the longest in the majors this year.

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Rod Beck pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Montreal 5, Chicago 4--Wil Cordero drove in a career-high four runs and Delino DeShields’ sacrifice fly capped a three-run seventh inning as Expos won at Chicago.

Cordero, who had a two-run RBI single during the fifth against Mike Morgan, doubled in two more to tie the score during the seventh against reliever Bob Scanlan (1-3).

Dennis Martinez (3-5) was lifted for John Vander Wal, who moved Cordero to third with a groundout before DeShields’ decisive fly to left. John Wetteland pitched the last two innings for his eighth save.

New York 4, Cincinnati 3--Bobby Bonilla and Jeff McKnight each hit two-run homers as the Mets won at New York.

Frank Tanana (3-3), who went seven innings, ended a personal three-game losing streak.

The Reds, who failed to score with the bases loaded during the eighth inning, saw their three-game winning streak under new Manager Davey Johnson end.

Reggie Sanders hit a solo homer for Cincinnati, and Barry Larkin drove in two runs with two doubles. The Reds’ Tim Pugh (3-5) gave up four runs and six hits.

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Philadelphia 6, Colorado 0--Terry Mulholland pitched a six-hitter and the Phillies won at Denver, handing the Rockies their 20th loss in 24 games.

John Kruk and Darren Daulton each drove in two runs for the Phillies. The Rockies dropped to 14-35, the worst record in the major leagues.

Mulholland (6-4) pitched his first shutout of the season and fourth complete game. He walked one and struck out two.

Willie Blair (1-2) gave up eight hits in six innings before being relieved by Gary Wayne.

San Diego 7, St. Louis 4--Derek Bell hit a two-run homer as the Padres ended a five-game losing streak with a victory at St. Louis.

Bell, who has 10 homers, has hit in 11 consecutive games and has five homers in his last 10 games. He has batted .489 during his streak (22 for 45) with 14 RBIs and has eight multiple-hit games during the stretch.

San Diego’s Fred McGriff also hit his 10th home run, a 415-foot solo shot over the center-field fence during the ninth.

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Greg Harris (5-6) gave up one run and seven hits while helping the Padres end an eight-game road losing string. He struck out five and walked two in 7 1/3 innings. Gene Harris got the final two outs for his eighth save.

Houston 4, Florida 2--Darryl Kile and three relievers gave up only four hits, and the Houston Astros jumped on Charlie Hough for three runs in the first inning at Miami.

Kile (3-1) threw 118 pitches in six innings, but gave up only two hits and two runs, both on a home run by Orestes Destrade in the first.

Hough (2-6) gave up two walks and three hits in the first, including Luis Gonzalez’s two-out RBI single, and passed balls by catcher Benito Stantiago on back-to-back pitchers allowed a runner to score from third each time.

The Astros couldn’t score after that against Hough, but he still lost his sixth consecutive decision.

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