NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Klesko Gets the Call and Helps Braves Win

For the second night in a row, a decision on a home run was reversed by umpires--this time in favor of the hitter.

In the sixth inning of the Atlanta Braves’ 8-3 victory over the Florida Marlins at Miami, Ryan Klesko’s 15th home run gave the Braves a 6-1 lead. The ball hit the screen on the left-field foul pole and was ruled foul by third-base umpire Terry Tata and home-plate umpire Eric Gregg.

But after Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox protested, the umpires met and reversed the decision. Marlin Manager Rene Lachemann was enraged and went from umpire to umpire protesting until he was finally ejected for the first time this season.

“It was great,” said Klesko. “First it was rush, then it got taken away, and then it came back again. It was a weird situation.”

Lachemann called it incompetent.

“The ball was fair,” said Lachemann. “I was upset with the fact that there was two guys who were on the line.”

Tata said he and Gregg didn’t have the perfect angle.

“The ball was hit deep and when it came down I saw it hit the warning track in foul territory,” Tata said. “I went to Eric and he saw the same thing. I went to other guys because they had a different angle. I took the responsibility to change the call.”

On Wednesday night, Seattle Manager Lou Pinella was ejected after a argument when the Mariners’ Mike Blowers had an apparent home run changed to a ground-rule double on the pretense of fan interference.

St. Louis 9, Colorado 7--Jose Oquendo, who came into the game following a bench-clearing brawl, singled in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning at St. Louis.

Oquendo went into the game after Geronimo Pena was ejected for his part during the sixth-inning brawl.

The Rockies loaded the bases in the ninth before Omar Olivares struck out Dante Bichette for the final out to earn his first save.

With the score tied 7-7 in the seventh, the Cardinals loaded the bases on a walk to Ozzie Smith, a single by Ray Lankford and an intentional walk to Mark Whiten. Oquendo then grounded a single to right off Mike Munoz.

Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 4--Orlando Merced’s two-run double highlighted a four-run eighth inning as the Pirates extended their home winning streak to eight games in moving within 5 1/2 games of the first-place Reds in the Central Division.

Merced extended his hitting streak to a current major league-high 15 games.

New York 3, San Diego 1--Todd Hundley’s hit-and-run double drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning at San Diego as the Mets ended a five-game losing streak.

Hundley’s hit made a winner of Bret Saberhagen (8-4), who gave up one run and five hits in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one.

Rookie right-hander Joey Hamilton (4-3) also pitched well, yielding five hits in 7 1/3 innings, but he gave up three runs.

Houston 5, Chicago 3--Pete Harnisch came off the disabled list to limit the Cubs to three hits in six innings and Luis Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to lead the Astros at Houston.

Harnisch, who was activated before the game after being on the disabled list since May 23 with a partial tear in his right shoulder, gave up two runs and didn’t yield a walk.

Montreal 7, San Francisco 3--Juan Bell hit a two-run homer and Larry Walker also homered and drove in two runs at Candlestick Park as the Expos handed the Giants their third consecutive loss.