NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rookies Maintain Giants’ Lead

You won’t find the San Francisco Giants complaining about the play of the youngsters they’ve been forced to use as they try to fight off a rash of injuries.

J.R. Phillips tripled and hit a two-run homer in his first two major league at-bats, and rookie Salomon Torres won his second consecutive game as the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1, Saturday night at St. Louis.

The victory kept San Francisco 3 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL West. The Braves beat visiting San Diego, 3-2.

Torres (2-0), making his second major league start, gave up eight hits and two walks in eight innings. Rod Beck pitched a scoreless ninth for his 40th save.

St. Louis Manager Joe Torre was impressed with Torres.

“He’s a very aggressive young man,” Torre said. “He comes at you. He’s got a good curveball. He didn’t get tired.”

Phillips, called up from triple-A Phoenix on Friday, hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning after Barry Bonds doubled off starter Rene Arocha (10-6).

Atlanta 3, San Diego 2--Terry Pendleton hit a homer and David Justice drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single as the Braves beat the Padres at Atlanta.

It was the Braves’ third consecutive victory, 11th in 13 games and 20th in 24 in their relentless chase of the Giants.

Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox usually keeps an eye on San Francisco’s games on the scoreboard, but not on this night.

“This was one was too close,” Cox said. “I never looked once.”

Montreal 7, Houston 5--Ken Hill pitched a strong game and had a two-run double as the Expos extended their winning streak to nine games by beating the Astros at Houston.

Hill (9-7) gave up seven hits in 8 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking one in leading the Expos to their seventh consecutive road victory.

Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 5-- Jose Rijo drove in a career-high four runs and pitched seven strong innings as the Reds defeated the Phillies at Cincinnati.

Rijo (13-7) gave up one run in seven innings and had a two-run single and a two-run double off Danny Jackson (11-10) to snap the Phillies’ three-game winning streak.

Philadelphia set a modern NL record in the fourth with Darren Daulton’s sacrifice fly. The Phillies haven’t been shut out in 151 consecutive games, topping the previous mark by Pittsburgh in 1924-25. The New York Yankees of 1931-33 hold the major league record of scoring in 308 consecutive games.

Chicago 9, New York 8--Shawon Dunston’s eighth-inning double tied the game, and he scored the winning run on Sammy Sosa’s single as the Cubs beat the Mets at Chicago.

With the Mets ahead, 8-7, Ryne Sandberg led off the eighth with a walk, took second on a grounder and scored on Dunston’s liner to left-center. Sosa followed with his third hit of the game, a single to center off reliever John Franco (3-1).

Colorado 10, Pittsburgh 4-- Charlie Hayes had three hits and Andres Galarraga knocked in two runs with a homer and double as the Rockies rallied to defeat the Pirates at Denver.

Winner Lance Painter (2-2) pitched seven-plus innings, giving up four runs on 12 hits.