NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Giants Keep Up Pressure Behind Williams

Matt Williams drove in three runs Friday night to lead the Giants to an 8-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies at San Francisco, and into second place in the West Division.

The Giants, who have won 15 of their last 19 games, moved past the Rockies and are one game behind the Dodgers.

Williams’ first-inning single drove in John Patterson, and Darryl Strawberry’s sacrifice fly scored Barry Bonds to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

The Giants made it 3-1 in the bottom of the third on consecutive doubles by Bonds and Williams, and then added two more runs in the fourth when Patterson’s fly ball to short right was misjudged by Colorado’s Dante Bichette and fell for a two-run double.

With the score 6-4, San Francisco scored one more run in the seventh on consecutive singles by Bonds, Williams and Strawberry. Williams walked with the bases loaded with two out in the eighth for their final run.

The Giants are batting .272 over the 19 games since Strawberry moved into the lineup. Before that, they were batting .239. Bonds and Williams are batting a combined .370 since Strawberry arrived.

Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 2--Fred McGriff’s two-run single capped a three-run fifth inning and Javier Lopez hit a two-run homer in the sixth at Atlanta.

Steve Avery (7-3) gave up six hits, walked none and struck out eight, five on called third strikes.

“He had super control,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said of Avery, who gained his first complete game of the season and ended the Phillies’ four-game winning streak. “He didn’t make but a couple of mistakes.”

Montreal 8, Florida 4--The Expos broke open a tie game with a four-run seventh inning on only two hits at Miami.

Larry Walker’s single drove in Rondell White with the tiebreaking run. The Expos also scored on a walk, a hit batsman and Sean Berry’s sacrifice fly, all with the bases loaded.

Jeff Shaw (5-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief for the victory. Mel Rojas and John Wetteland combined to shut out the Marlins over the final three innings.

Cincinnati 4, San Diego 1--Jeff Branson hit a two-run homer and Bret Boone had two runs batted in for the Reds at San Diego.

Pete Schourek (6-2) pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up one run on nine hits, with six strikeouts and one walk. Jeff Brantley pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for his 12th save.

Branson hit his homer to right field in the second inning off Andy Ashby (4-11), who has lost five consecutive starts and is 0-6 lifetime against Cincinnati.

It was Branson’s fifth homer of the year, all coming in his last 41 at-bats.

New York 4, Pittsburgh 1--Bobby Jones continued to excel on the road and Ryan Thompson stayed hot in the Mets’ victory at Pittsburgh.

Jones (11-7) limited Pittsburgh to seven hits and a run over seven innings and is 7-1 with a 1.67 earned-run average away from Shea this season. He has a 9-2 career road record, compared to a 4-9 record and 4.29 ERA in New York.

His road success has helped the Mets win 12 of their last 16 road games.

Thompson homered in the seventh and is five for 15 with three homers and five RBIs in Three Rivers Stadium this season. John Franco pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 32 opportunities.

Chicago 8, St. Louis 3--Jim Bullinger pitched eight solid innings and Steve Buechele hit a two-run homer and a run-scoring triple to lead the Cubs at St. Louis.

The Cubs have won eight of their last 11 games. The Cardinals have lost six in a row and 19 of their last 25. The teams are tied for last place in the Central.

Bullinger (6-2) won his third consecutive start as he gave up three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The Cubs scored five runs off starter Allen Watson (6-5) when they sent nine men to the plate in the first inning.