NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Maddux, Giving Cardinals Fits, Wins His 16th

The St. Louis Cardinals have seen enough of Greg Maddux over the last 17 days. They were on the short end of two 1-0 complete-game shutouts at the hands of the Atlanta Braves’ ace in that span.

“The last time he one-zipped us, I thought about the era of [Bob] Gibson, [Steve] Carlton and [Juan] Marichal,” St. Louis Manager Mike Jorgensen said. “Dare I say he might be at the top of the list?”

Maddux, who has won the last three National League Cy Young Awards, became the major league’s first 16-game winner Tuesday night with his fourth consecutive complete-game victory over the Cardinals at Atlanta.

Fred McGriff gave Maddux (16-2) the only run he needed with his 23rd home run in the second inning.

Houston 10, Cincinnati 1--Derrick May followed a bench-clearing brawl with a grand slam in the seventh inning at Houston, and the Astros ended an 11-game losing streak to the Reds.

A series of bench-clearing incidents, starting when Red reliever Xavier Hernandez threw inside to Brian Hunter in the sixth, eventually led to the ejections of Hernandez, Ron Gant, Lenny Harris, Eddie Taubensee and Manager Davey Johnson of the Reds and Pat Borders, Doug Drabek and Manager Terry Collins of the Astros.

The Reds said Borders initiated the fisticuffs when he bumped catcher Benito Santiago as he scored a run in the sixth.

“The first thing is that Borders took a cheap shot at Santiago,” Johnson said. “Everybody on our club saw it so we fired a warning shot to show them that we can’t be pushed around and intimidated.

“Terry Collins wanted to get things going. They needed it more than we do. We don’t have any grudges, no hard feelings, it’s over.”

The most serious confrontation came in the bottom of the seventh when Hernandez hit Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell on the arms with consecutive pitches, clearing both benches for a lengthy fight.

New York 4, San Diego 0--Rookie Jason Isringhausen allowed five hits over eight innings and Jeff Kent and Damon Buford homered as the Mets beat the Padres at San Diego.

Isringhausen (5-2), who gave up two infield hits and had two strikeouts and three walks, was backed by four double plays as he defeated the Padres for his second consecutive start.

San Francisco 9, Montreal 6--Barry Bonds and Matt Williams hit back-to-back homers in the first inning and Mark Carreon sparked a three-run rally in the sixth with a home run, lifting the Giants at San Francisco. Trailing, 6-5, in the sixth, the Giants rallied off reliever Jose DeLeon (0-1). Reliever Juan Bautista (3-8) gained the victory and Rod Beck pitched the ninth for his 27th save.