NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rockies Join Dodgers in First

The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field Wednesday, yet none of the big bashers on the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies took advantage.

Instead, unheralded Jason Bates, Eric Young and Trenidad Hubbard were the standouts as the Rockies defeated the Cubs, 10-4, to move into a first-place tie with the Dodgers in the West.

While Colorado’s 118-homer foursome--Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, Larry Walker and Andres Galarraga--was held without a home run for the fourth consecutive game, Bates capped a five-run third inning with a three-run double, and Young and Hubbard added solo home runs.

In addition, Armando Reynoso combined with three relievers to hold league home run leader Sammy Sosa to three popups and a double-play grounder. Sosa had homered in his previous five games against the Rockies.

“Bates has had a good year for us, and Young and Hubbard really came through today when we needed them,” Colorado Manager Don Baylor said. “And we kept one of their hot hitters off base. That was a big key.”

Atlanta 6, St. Louis 1--Ryan Klesko’s two-run double highlighted a six-run fourth inning and Tom Glavine had a run-scoring double and gained his 14th victory for the Braves at Atlanta.

Glavine (14-6) gave up five hits, walked four and struck out five before being lifted after five innings and 104 pitches. Brad Clontz allowed two hits in two innings, Greg McMichael pitched a perfect eighth and Alejandro Pena worked a hitless ninth.

Cincinnati 7, Houston 3--John Smiley returned from the disabled list to allow four hits over seven innings and Mark Lewis hit a three-run homer to lead the Reds at Houston.

There was no repeat of Tuesday night’s brawl in which managers Davey Johnson of Cincinnati and Terry Collins of Houston and six players were ejected after a series of bench-clearing battles.

Smiley (12-2) had not pitched since Aug. 21 when he suffered a groin injury but he was in top form against the Astros.

San Diego 6, New York 5--Bip Roberts singled over a drawn-in outfield to score Steve Finley with none out in the bottom of the ninth inning and gave the Padres a comeback victory over the Mets at New York.

The Padres rebounded from a 5-1 deficit with Roberts getting the winning hit over the head of the left fielder Damon Buford.

Montreal 8, San Francisco 2--Tavo Alvarez allowed two hits in seven innings for his first major league win and the Expos scored in each of the first five innings.

Mike Lansing hit a three-run homer and Dave Silvestri and Tony Tarasco added solo homers for the Expos, who broke a three-game losing streak.

Florida 2, Pittsburgh 1--Greg Colbrunn capped a two-run first inning with a run-scoring single and extended his hitting streak to 17 games, leading the Marlins at Miami.

Colbrunn’s streak is the longest current streak in the National League and the longest in club history.