NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Pirates Hit and Miss, Braves Win

For the Atlanta Braves and Steve Avery, it really did not matter that the hits kept piling up for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Avery and two relievers combined for a 13-hit shutout in the Braves’ 2-0 victory Sunday at Atlanta.

Avery (10-4) gave up 12 hits in 7 2/3 innings with two strikeouts and no walks. He also had a two-run single in the fourth.

“It was his day,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said. “They got a lot of cheap hits, but he got the big hit.”

Said Avery: “I thought I got better as the game went along, although the hits didn’t stop. Early on my location wasn’t good, but then it got better and they had a few broken-bat hits.

The Pirates loaded the bases with two outs off Avery in the eighth inning, but Greg McMichael struck out Don Slaught to end the threat. Mike Stanton pitched the ninth for his 25th save.

Jay Bell reached on shortstop Jeff Blauser’s error with one out in the eighth. After Lonnie Smith flied out, Jeff King and Lloyd McClendon singled to load the bases.

Avery, McMichael and Stanton combined for Atlanta’s major league-leading 12th shutout of the season. The Pirates hit into three double plays.

The Pirates had at least one hit in each inning and outhit the Braves, 39-21, in the four game series, but lost three times.

The Braves scored twice in the fourth inning off Zane Smith (0-4) when after two outs, Brian Hunter singled and Greg Olson and Mark Lemke walked. Avery followed with a two-run single. Smith left for a pinch-hitter after six innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out one.

New York 12, San Francisco 6--Pete Schourek ended a seven-game personal losing streak and Dave Gallagher hit his first career grand slam as the Mets beat the Giants at San Francisco.

It marked only the fourth time this season the Mets (29-62) have won two consecutive games. Jeff Kent added two homers for New York.

Schourek (3-10), who also went two for two at the plate, had a rough first inning but gave up two hits over the next five. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out one before Anthony Young relieved, giving the last-place Mets a surprising four-game split with the West-leading Giants.

The Mets scored six runs in the ninth highlighted by Gallagher’s grand slam off Mike Jackson, the fourth San Francisco pitcher. The Mets made it 7-3 on Eddie Murray’s run-scoring groundout after reliever Geno Minutelli walked three batters.

Cincinnati 5, Florida 3--Tim Pugh pitched eight shutout innings for his third consecutive victory, leading the Reds over the struggling Marlins at Cincinnati.

Pugh (6-9) gave up only six singles, including Jeff Conine’s run-scoring single with no outs in the ninth, as he sent the Marlins to their 13th defeat in 16 games. The right-hander, after a six-game losing streak, has won his last three starts.

Rob Dibble walked Darrell Whitmore and Walt Weiss with the bases loaded in the ninth to force in two runs before finishing for his 13th save.

The game turned on one pitch: Charlie Hough, the Marlins’ 45-year-old knuckleball specialist, hung one to Brian Dorsett in the second. Dorsett drove the chest-high pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, his first since 1987 with Cleveland.

Philadelphia 6, San Diego 3--Curt Schilling ended a personal five-game losing streak, and Philadelphia benefited from three errors to beat the Padres, avoiding a four-game sweep at San Diego. Afterward, the Padres sent first baseman Fred McGriff to Atlanta.

Schilling (9-6) was working on a shutout until Tony Gwynn singled with two outs in the sixth, followed by Phil Plantier’s home run to right.

Schilling gave up six hits in seven innings to win for the first time since June 11, when he beat the New York Mets, 5-2, in a complete game. After a no-decision in his next start he suffered through a streak in which he gave up 27 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings. Mitch Williams pitched the ninth for his 24th save.

St. Louis 7, Houston 6--Mark Whiten’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the 11th inning gave the Cardinals a victory at St. Louis.

The Cardinals, chasing first-place Philadelphia in the Eastern Division, took three of four games from the Astros.

Whiten, who hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, scored Ozzie Smith, who started the inning with a walk off Doug Jones (3-7). After Smith walked, Luis Alicea reached on an infield single and both runners moved up on Rod Brewer’s sacrifice.

Todd Zeile was walked intentionally to load the bases and Al Osuna relieved. Whiten then greeted Osuna with a fly ball to center. Lee Guetterman (2-1) retired six consecutive batters for the victory.

Chicago 12, Colorado 2--Rick Wilkins hit a three-run homer to highlight an eight-run first inning, and the Cubs went on to beat the Rockies at Chicago in a game shortened to seven innings by rain.

It was the Cubs’ first four-game sweep since they took four consecutive games from New York last Aug. 6-9. Chicago (45-45) returned to the .500 mark.

The game was delayed by rain for 53 minutes in the fifth inning moments after becoming official. The game was delayed another 45 minutes before being called.