Still Together, a Nation Apart : Braves: Pendleton, Maddux lead the way as Atlanta beats Colorado for 12th consecutive time, 10-1.

It has become a numbers game of spectacular dimensions for the Atlanta Braves, but through 161 games it still adds up to only a tie with the San Francisco Giants for the National League West lead.

Go figure.

A 10-1 rout of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday represented a franchise record 103rd victory for the Braves, but they will need 104 or more to win this race.

“Frustrated?” General Manager John Schuerholz said of the inability to put the Giants away. “If there’s frustration it stems from the feeling we’re a championship team and we want to prove it.”

After today’s dramatic conclusion of the regular season, the Braves still might have to prove it by defeating the Giants in a Monday night playoff in San Francisco.

They have gotten no help from the Dodgers while improving their season record against the Rockies to 12-0.

That and those 103 victories are only a partial yardstick of the Braves’ season. They are also 53-19 since the All-Star break, 50-17 with Fred McGriff and have won 21 of their last 28 games.

In addition:

--Greg Maddux improved to 20-10 on Saturday, giving up four hits and an unearned run in seven innings. With Tom Glavine at 21-6 as he faces the Rockies today, it’s the first time the Braves have had two 20-game winners since 1959, when Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette won 21 each for Milwaukee.

--McGriff drove in his 100th run with a sixth-inning double to give the Braves three players with 100 runs batted in--David Justice has 119 and Ron Gant 115--for the first time since 1970. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only other team with three: Joe Carter, Paul Molitor and John Olerud.

Atlanta is averaging 5.8 runs for the 67 games since McGriff arrived to relieve some of the offensive stress. A 14-hit bombardment of Armando Reynoso and four successors Saturday was typical.

Terry Pendleton, who drove in five runs Friday night, drove in three more with a triple, single and groundout.

Maddux, eyeing a second consecutive Cy Young Award after a second consecutive 20-victory season, improved his major league-low earned-run average to 2.36. He also leads the National League in innings and complete games and is third in strikeouts.

“Because of the race I haven’t thought a lot about it,” he said of winning 20, “but I always assumed it would be tough to do twice, so this means a lot to me. It’s amazing Tommy (Glavine) has done it three times.”

Maddux said he checked the scoreboard every time he walked to the mound “but just tried to do the things mechanically and mentally I have to do. Ten runs made it easy. It didn’t matter who was pitching.”

Glavine said today’s assignment is equivalent to “Game 7 of the World Series,” but “if we win and the Giants win, we’ll have to play another Game 7 Monday night. I can’t approach it any differently than any other game.”

Glavine, of course, had hoped it wouldn’t come down to a last game. The Giants once led the Braves by 10, but the Braves recently led by four. It has been an emotional roller coaster, and Glavine said:

“If you’d told us a month and a half ago that we’d be tied on the last day, we’d have been thrilled, but tell us that two weeks ago and we wouldn’t have been real happy. We have to take the situation and deal with it.”

David Nied (5-8), the former Brave prospect who was the first player selected in the expansion draft, will pitch for the Rockies and said he was hoping for this showdown against his former team.

“There’s nothing more I’d like to take into the off-season,” he said of the chance to knock off the Braves, who gathered in front of clubhouse TVs to cheer on the Dodgers in the final innings Saturday.

Asked if it was frustrating to have won 103 games and still not won, Justice said it was more unbelievable.

“Any emotion we’re feeling the Giants have to be feeling as well,” he said. “It’s a shame one of us won’t make the playoffs, but that’s the way it is.

“I mean, the two best teams in baseball are in the same division, but if it takes 104 or 105 we’ll do it.”

Justice tried to sound convincing, but there wasn’t much enthusiasm. He might have already been thinking about a Sunday night flight to San Francisco.

“No one wants to have to play another night game in Candlestick Park with that wind and those fans calling you every name they can think of,” he said, “but we’ll deal with that, too, if we have to go.”