NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rijo Ends 10-Game Winless Streak, 4-0

The last two months have been torture for Jose Rijo.

The Cincinnati Reds fired Tony Perez as manager and hired Davey Johnson, but Rijo’s winless streak continued. It finally ended at 10 games Friday night, when he pitched eight strong innings during a 4-0 victory over the Florida Marlins at Cincinnati.

Rijo’s first victory since May 22--two days before Perez’s firing--moved the Reds to two games over .500 for the first time this season. Rijo (7-5) has smiled through the winless streak, but this time the smile was genuine.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s been a long time,” he said. “I feel great. I feel like I’m part of the team again. I feel so much better now.”

Rijo gave up eight hits, and finally got some help from his teammates. The right-hander was 0-4 during the streak, getting little offensive support (a total of four runs in the four losses) and no help from his bullpen (two blown leads).

Both came through for him. Hal Morris went four for five, including a run-scoring single as part of a decisive three-run second inning against Pat Rapp (0-2). And Rob Dibble preserved the lead with a hitless ninth.

Atlanta 3, Pittsburgh 2--It was a Brave fan’s delight at Atlanta--rare home runs by Otis Nixon and a premature fireworks celebration.

Mark Lemke drove in the go-ahead run for the Braves with a fourth-inning single.

Winner Greg Maddux (9-8) gave up two runs and seven hits, walked one and struck out seven before leaving for a pinch-hitter after seven innings. Mike Stanton pitched a scoreless ninth for his 24th save as the Braves won for the fifth time in six games.

With two out in the ninth, Pittsburgh’s Tom Prince lifted a fly ball to the wall in left field. Ron Gant appeared to make the catch and the customary celebratory fireworks were launched.

But Gant dropped the ball and Prince advanced to second on the error. Stanton then got Carlos Garcia to ground out, ending the game.

Chicago 8, Colorado 2--Jose Guzman insisted he wasn’t trying to show off on the mound, contending his overpowering performance in a victory over the Rockies at Chicago was just one of those things.

“I wasn’t trying to strike out every hitter, it just happened that way,” Guzman said after striking out a season-high 11 batters.

Guzman (8-7), who twice previously had struck out 12, gave up six hits and walked only one in 8 2/3 innings. He entered the game 1-2 with a 5.22 earned-run average in his last five starts, but easily outpitched Curt Leskanic (1-2).

Houston 7, St. Louis 6--Eric Anthony hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning to lift the Astros at St. Louis.

Anthony hit the first pitch from reliever Lee Guetterman (1-1) over the right-field wall for his eighth home run, breaking a 4-4 tie. Guetterman’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt set up two more runs in the inning.

San Francisco 4, New York 2--Darren Lewis had two hits, drove in a run and set a defensive record, leading the Giants at San Francisco.

The Giants, who retained their nine-game lead in the National League West, won for the eighth time in 10 games and spoiled a fine outing by Dwight Gooden as the Mets dropped their third consecutive game. Lewis played in his 267th consecutive game in the outfield without an error, breaking a record set by Don Demeter from 1962-65, when he played for Philadelphia and Detroit.

San Diego 5, Philadelphia 3--Tony Gwynn hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run seventh inning for the Padres at San Diego, sending the slumping Phillies to their sixth loss in eight games.

The Phillies, who maintained a four-game lead over second-place St. Louis in the National League East, got two home runs from Darren Daulton.

Gwynn connected for the tiebreaking homer, his fourth of the season, on the first pitch from David West in relief of starter Tommy Greene (11-3).

The Padres faced a 3-0 deficit before tying the score on Archi Cianfrocco’s two-run double under the glove of third baseman Dave Hollins and a run-scoring groundout by pinch-hitter Kurt Stillwell.