NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : In a Change of Sorts, Martinez Is in the Charge

Pedro Martinez wasn’t rushed on the mound after hitting a batter Tuesday night in Montreal, something that has happened to him twice already this season.

Instead, he was part of the rush of Pittsburgh’s Blas Minor, who had hit Larry Walker on the hip in the fifth inning.

And Martinez was part of a six-player exit after a 10-minute fight in the Expos’ 12-7 victory. Minor wasn’t.

Not that Martinez (6-3), who pitched just long enough for the victory, was without blame. He had hit Carlos Garcia--who had broken up Jeff Fassero’s no-hitter the night before--with the first pitch of the previous half inning.

Walker, who had hit a two-run triple earlier, knew what was coming and decided he would have nothing of it. He landed three punches on Minor before the teams piled on.

Walker was the 23rd Expo to be hit by a pitch this year, most in baseball and probably a product of Martinez’s existence on the staff.

“I wasn’t gonna be the guy to get picked on,” said Walker, the first Expo to rush the mound this season. “I made up my mind in the on-deck circle. If it happens I’m going.”

It was going to happen.

“I heard talk on the bench that it was inevitable,” Minor said. “Something had to be done. I don’t think it was a secret on either side.”

Houston 7, San Francisco 4--Jeff Bagwell hit his 18th homer of the season, and third off the Giants’ Bryan Hickerson, and drove in three runs for the Astros at San Francisco.

Bagwell added two doubles hiked his league-leading RBI total to 62. He is hitting .647 against the Giants this season.

Atlanta 3, Colorado 1--Kent Mercker (5-1) struck out nine and allowed only three hits in seven innings, leading the Braves at Atlanta.

Ryan Klesko hit a solo homer and Bill Pecota drove in another run in the sixth inning with an RBI single.

Philadelphia 3, New York 2--John Kruk broke up Dwight Gooden’s shutout bid with a solo homer in the seventh inning, and Gooden had a costly throwing error that helped the Phillies win at New York.

Gooden (2-3) struck out 10 for the first time in more than two years.

Florida 7, St. Louis 0--Charlie Hough (5-4) confounded the Cardinals on five hits in St. Louis, striking out a season-high nine as the Marlins ended a five-game losing streak.

Hough, 46, didn’t allow a runner past second base in his first complete game since July 25, 1992 and his first in 64 starts in the National League.

Chicago 7, San Diego 6--Tuffy Rhodes doubled in two runs in the top of the 11th inning and the Cubs withstood a home run by Brad Ausmus in the bottom of the 11th for a victory at San Diego.