NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Thompson Turns Up the Power for Giants

The San Francisco Giants have a lineup of sluggers, but most people do not consider Robby Thompson one of them.

The Giants’ veteran second baseman, however, hit his 14th home run Sunday, a two-out, two-run shot against Bryan Harvey in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Giants a 7-6 victory over the Florida Marlins at San Francisco.

Harvey (1-4), who entered in the eighth inning, blew a save for only the fourth time in 41 chances, allowing three inherited runners to score before the game-winning home run.

“It was stupid pitching,” Harvey said. “Four forkballs in a row. After you see four in a row, you can hit it. That last pitch didn’t do nothing but go out of the park.

“Why did I throw him so many? Because I was ignorant.”

The Marlins built a 6-2 lead against John Burkett and two relievers before the Giants rallied.

Luis Aquino, who struck out the side with runners at second and third and none out in the seventh, loaded the bases with one out and Barry Bonds due up in the eighth.

Harvey relieved and gave up a sacrifice fly to Bonds and a two-run single to Willie McGee, making the score 6-5.

Orestes Destrade hit his 15th homer, Gary Sheffield his 18th and Jeff Conine his 10th for the Marlins.

Atlanta 4, Chicago 3--Jeff Blauser’s two-run homer started a four-run fifth inning and John Smoltz (13-9) settled down after a shaky start to lead the Braves at Chicago.

The victory was the 11th in the last 13 games for the Braves who remained 7 1/2 games behind the first-place Giants in the National League West. The Braves open a three-game series at San Francisco tonight.

Otis Nixon singled with one out in the fifth against Jose Guzman (11-8) and Blauser followed with his 13th homer. One out later, Fred McGriff doubled and scored on a single by David Justice. Terry Pendleton followed with a double to score Justice.

Pittsburgh 10, San Diego 5--Orlando Merced hit a three-run homer and Dave Clark added a two-run shot during a seven-run fourth inning at San Diego as the Pirates extended the Padres’ losing streak to seven games.

The Padres, on their longest losing streak since an eight-game slide in 1990, dropped to 0-8 against the Pirates this season and into sole possession of last place in the NL West.

Andy Benes (13-10) gave up eight runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Steve Cooke (8-7) pitched 5 1/3 innings and won his third consecutive decision.

Houston 7, Philadelphia 3--Jeff Bagwell and Eric Anthony hit consecutive home runs in the first inning against Ben Rivera (11-7) and Darryl Kile (14-4) won his third consecutive start at Houston.

Craig Biggio also homered for the Astros.

Colorado 4, New York 3--Freddie Benavides broke a 3-3 tie with a solo homer during the seventh at Denver, lifting the Rockies to their fourth series sweep.

Benavides’ third homer came against Sid Fernandez (2-4) to start the seventh.

Montreal 7, Cincinnati 2--Sean Berry hit two homers, one inside the park, and drove in six runs at Cincinnati.

Dennis Martinez (11-8) gave up five hits in seven innings to win for the first time since July 8.

Berry turned a soft liner into a three-run inside-the-park homer in the fourth, added a two-run homer against starter Bobby Ayala (5-6) in the sixth and had a sacrifice fly in the seventh.