NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Giants Hammer Phillies Again

No team is looking forward to the All-Star break more than the Philadelphia Phillies.

The San Francisco Giants had a season-high 23 hits and routed the Phillies for the second consecutive time, 15-8, in a battle of division leaders Friday night at Philadelphia.

Steve Scarsone had four hits and three runs batted in for the Giants, and Barry Bonds had three hits and two RBIs.

Paul Faries, Royce Clayton and Kirt Manwaring each drove in two runs for the Giants. Manwaring had four hits, Scarsone hit his first major league home run, and Will Clark got his seventh homer of the season.

Scarsone, who played in the Philadelphia system, played third in place of the injured Matt Williams.

Giant Manager Dusty Baker was asked if his team got tired after all the hits and runs.

“Not really,” Baker said. “You don’t get tired running and hitting. But you don’t expect to score this many runs against anybody.”

The Giants won, 13-2, Thursday.

Philadelphia pitcher Larry Andersen and Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi were ejected in the ninth inning after Andersen threw behind Clayton. In the eighth, both benches emptied after San Francisco’s Mike Jackson hit Pete Incaviglia with a pitch.

No punches were thrown, but both managers were warned.

Pittsburgh 4, Cincinnati 1--Bob Walk remained unbeaten at home, limiting the Reds to an unearned run over five innings before leaving with a groin injury.

Rookie right-hander Joel Johnston pitched three scoreless innings in his second National League appearance, and Stan Belinda got the last three outs for his 17th save.

Walk (10-6), a 10-game winner at the All-Star break for the first time in his 14-year career, is 7-0 in eight starts this season at Three Rivers Stadium.

Montreal 6, San Diego 1--Moises Alou homered twice, giving him six in the last four games, and Chris Nabholz pitched a three-hitter to lead the Expos at Montreal.

Nabholz (5-5), who struck out four and walked three, won his second consecutive decision for the first time in more than a year.

Alou hit a three-run homer in the first inning against rookie Tim Worrell (0-3). He added a solo shot in the second--his 13th homer of the season.

Atlanta 5, Florida 1--The Braves’ John Smoltz, a controversial choice by his manager for the All-Star game, gave up only five hits in eight innings at Miami to extend the Marlins’ season-high losing streak to seven games.

Ron Gant hit his 20th home run and David Justice hit his 19th for the Braves, who broke a three-game losing streak. Smoltz (8-7) struck out seven to take over the National League lead with 119.

Chicago 5, Houston 2--Mark Grace, returning to the lineup after missing six starts because of a hamstring injury, hit a homer and run-scoring single as the Cubs won at Chicago.

Grace singled in a three-run first and hit his ninth homer in the fifth. Both hits came against Doug Drabek (7-9).

Colorado 5, St. Louis 4--Chris Jones hit a two-run homer to tie the score in the ninth inning against Lee Smith, and Danny Sheaffer followed with a homer at St. Louis to give the Rockies their first four-game winning streak.

Smith (2-2), who leads the major with 30 saves, had converted his last 18 save opportunities.