NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Expos’ Henry Again Finishes Off the Cubs

Butch Henry knows his limitations, but the Chicago Cubs don’t seem to be aware of them.

“I’m not a complete-game pitcher--never have been, never will be,” he said Thursday after becoming a complete-game pitcher for a night, striking out four in shutting out the Cubs, 4-0, at Montreal.

It was his first complete game since April 27, 1993, when he beat the Cubs for the Colorado Rockies. His other shutout came the season before that, while pitching with Houston.

Against the Cubs, of course.

Maybe it was knowledge that the batters were from Chicago, or perhaps because he still had some pitches left in an arm that used only 115 of them Thursday, but Henry grew increasingly motivated as the night wore on.

“I started to smell the shutout in the eighth,” Henry said. “When you look up and see all those zeros, you want to finish.”

When you get homers from Rondell White and Darrin Fletcher in support, those zeros look bigger.

Montreal has won three in a row and seven of nine since the All-Star break. Chicago lost its fourth in a row and is 1-8 since the break. The Cubs were 8-1 going into the break.

Henry, considered the Expos’ No. 5 starter, has given up one run or fewer in five of his last seven outings.

So what?

“We’re making everybody look like a Cy Young winner,” said Cub first baseman Mark Grace. “Unfortunately for us, we let the momentum we had going into the break get away from us.”

Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 3--Denny Neagle failed in his attempt to become the first 11-game winner in the National League when Charlie O’Brien’s pinch-single with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning capped a two-run rally and gave the Braves a victory in Atlanta.

The hit came off reliever Dan Miceli and finished an inning that included two Pittsburgh errors.

It was Atlanta’s 14th victory in 17 games and only the third loss in 10 for the Pirates.

Neagle gave up four hits in eight innings and yielded his first homers to left-handed batters this season when David Justice connected for his 11th in the second inning and Fred McGriff for his 14th in the fourth.

St. Louis 8, New York 6--Darnell Coles hit a three-run homer and Ray Lankford continued his hot hitting with a two-run shot as the Cardinals won at home and ended the Mets’ four-game winning streak.

Lankford’s 14th homer was his third in four games and sixth in 12 games.

Brett Butler continued his torrid hitting for the Mets with his third four-hit game in a row. Butler has 15 hits in his last four games to raise his average to .290.

Colorado 7, Philadelphia 3--Bill Swift, still recovering from a sore shoulder and summer cold, won his fifth consecutive start and Dante Bichette hit another homer at home to lead the Rockies.

Swift (6-2) has a 2.33 ERA since coming off the disabled list last month. He gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings, using only 77 pitches.

Bichette drove in three runs, including two on his 16th homer. All have come at Coors Field.

Houston 11, San Francisco 4--Derek Bell padded his NL RBI lead with a career-high six, three coming on a homer and two on a single, to lead the Astros at Houston. Bell has 70 RBIs.

It was the Giants’ fourth loss in a row and extended Terry Mulholland’s losing streak to seven decisions over 10 starts. Mulholland (2-8) gave up nine hits and six runs in 2 2/3 innings.

The Giants have given up 50 runs to Houston in five games.

Doug Drabek (5-5) overcame a rough first inning in which he loaded the bases with none out, then gave up only one run. He won his third consecutive decision, giving up nine hits and striking out six in 8 2/3 innings. He struck out Barry Bonds twice, but did give up his 20th homer.

Bonds has nine homers and 21 RBIs in his last 19 games.