NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : After Maddux Leaves, Phillies Come to Life

Greg Maddux pitched five strong innings before leaving with a twisted knee, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied from a three-run deficit against Atlanta’s bullpen to defeat the Braves, 5-4, Sunday at Atlanta.

Maddux hurt his left knee when he collided with Phillie first baseman Dave Hollins while beating out a two-strike, bunt single in the third. Maddux wound up scoring during a four-run burst.

“When we collided, it hurt more on my shin than the knee,” Maddux said. “The knee is sore, but everything is fine. I could have gone seven innings but I was hurting a little on the landing.”

Maddux pitched two more innings, yielding a run in the fifth, then left with a 4-1 lead.

Relievers Greg McMichael, Mike Stanton, Steve Bedrosian and Brad Clontz couldn’t hold it. Gary Varsho’s two-run single in the eighth capped the rally.

Pittsburgh 4, Chicago 3--The Pirates, in danger of starting 0-5 at home for the first time this century, needed two wild pitches, a passed ball and a bad-hop grounder to score the go-ahead run and beat the Cubs.

The Cubs lost for the first time in five road games and failed to match their best road start since the 1934 Cubs opened 6-0.

Jeff King hit a two-run homer for Pittsburgh. But the Pirates, outscored 21-9 in losing the first two games of the series, got only one ball out of the infield in breaking a 3-3 tie in eighth.

Cincinnati 8, New York 4--Jerome Walton’s leadoff homer at Cincinnati carried the Reds’ newfound momentum into a second day, as they won consecutive games for the first time.

Walton’s two-run, ninth-inning homer gave the Reds an improbable 13-11 victory on Saturday.

St. Louis 6, Houston 5--Bernard Gilkey drove in three runs and the Cardinals beat Doug Drabek and the Astros at St. Louis. Danny Jackson, making his third start for St. Louis, gave up five runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.

San Francisco 11, San Diego 4--Royce Clayton drove in four runs, John Patterson drove in three at San Diego and the Giants completed a four-game sweep of the Padres, who have lost seven in a row. The Giants have won eight of their last 10.

Montreal 9, Florida 3--Darrin Fletcher homered, doubled and scored three times for the Expos at Montreal. The Expos scored four runs in the fourth against former teammate Mark Gardner (0-3).