NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Cardinals’ Jackson Avoids an Imperfect 10

Danny Jackson pitched a four-hitter Friday to end a nine-game winless streak and avoid the worst start to a season in St. Louis history as the Cardinals defeated the Florida Marlins, 4-0, at St. Louis.

Jackson (1-9), who was treated for thyroid cancer in the off-season, had tied the club record set by Art Fromme in 1907. He had not won or pitched a complete game since last Aug. 3, when he shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I can’t tell you how much of a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Jackson said. “For the first time this year, I felt extremely confident and I had total command of my pitches.

“When I was warming up in the bullpen, I had no location at all, but it just came to me when the game started. I don’t know what happened between the time I warmed up and started facing the Marlins, but I was two different pitchers.”

Cardinal Manager Mike Jorgensen said he could see Jackson’s confidence grow as the game went on.

“He’s got to feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from his shoulders and I couldn’t be happier for him,” Jorgensen said.

The left-hander walked three and struck out one in lowering his earned-run average from 7.83 to 6.71.

Ray Lankford hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Bobby Witt (1-6), who is winless since May 13. The Marlins have scored 15 runs in his 13 starts since then.

Colorado 12, Montreal 7-- Larry Walker, Andres Galarraga and Vinny Castilla hit consecutive home runs in a four-run second inning as the Rockies won at Denver.

The homers came off Expo reliever Gabe White and gave Colorado an 8-0 lead. Dante Bichette walked to lead off the inning and Walker moved back into a tie for the NL home run lead with his 19th. Galarraga and Castilla followed with their 18th and 14th homers, respectively.

New York 9, Pittsburgh 8--Todd Hundley hit a two-run homer off Pirate closer Dan Miceli in the ninth inning as the Mets rallied from a five-run deficit to win at Pittsburgh.

Hundley fouled off several pitches before putting a 3-2 fastball over the right-field wall for his 11th homer. Bobby Bonilla, who had homered earlier, started the inning with a single off Miceli (1-3), one of New York’s 18 hits.

Denny Neagle, trying for the second time to become the NL’s first 10-game winner, took an 8-3 lead into the seventh, but left with one out in the eighth.

Chicago 8, Philadelphia 2--Shawon Dunston went four for five and drove in three runs as the Cubs scored seven runs in the last two innings and handed the Phillies their sixth loss in the last seven games at Philadelphia.

Brian McRae led off the eighth with his second hit of the game, a double off Michael Mimbs (6-4) and advanced to third on Rey Sanchez’s sacrifice. He scored to break a 1-1 tie when Mickey Morandini booted Mark Grace’s chopper to second.

Atlanta 8, San Francisco 4--Tom Glavine drove in two runs with two hits, including a tie-breaking RBI single in the sixth inning at Atlanta, as the Braves beat the Giants for their seventh consecutive victory.

Glavine (8-4) gave up nine hits, walked two and struck out six over eight innings.

Houston 5, San Diego 4--Orlando Miller’s bases-loaded single in the ninth capped a three-run rally over two innings at Houston as the Astros defeated the Padres in their last at-bat for the second consecutive game.